Westmoreland County high school notebook: Latrobe girls golf to debut; Terek Crosby picks Saint Vincent

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Saturday, June 29, 2024 | 11:01 AM

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The new fall season will come with a new varsity sport at Latrobe.

A girls golf team will begin play in WPIAL Section 4-3A with Armstrong, Fox Chapel, Indiana, Kiski Area, Oakland Catholic and Plum.

Plum also is a first-year program.

Latrobe will start as a self-sustaining club team. This makes two new girls golf teams from Westmoreland County in as many years after Belle Vernon debuted a girls team last year.

In the past at Latrobe, girls played on the boys team.

Holli Steele will coach the Wildcats in their debut season. Steele is a Mt. Pleasant graduate.

An avid fan of Tiger Woods and Fred Couples — she also is quick to mention her fondness for Lee Trevino and Latrobe’s native son, “The King,” Arnold Palmer — she played on the boys golf team there before attending Washington & Jefferson, where she played on the women’s golf team as a senior.

Like the boys, Latrobe’s girls will play at Latrobe Country Club.

Crosby picks Bearcats

Yough standout basketball player Terek Crosby, the second all-time leading scorer in Cougars’ history with 2,036 points, will play at Saint Vincent.

Bearcats coach DP Harris confirmed the commitment.

The 6-foot-3 guard known for acrobatic dunks averaged 25 points and four assists as a senior as Yough went 19-7 and made the WPIAL quarterfinals for the second straight season. Yough won back-to-back section titles for the first time.

Matthews to Geneva

Yough’s Austin Matthews committed to play basketball at Geneva.

The 6-5 forward was one of the area’s top post players over the last few seasons. He finished with 996 points and 915 rebounds in his career.

JCU lands Turner

Tyree Turner, a standout at Greensburg Central Catholic in three sports, will continue his basketball career at Division III John Carroll.

In his final prep basketball season, Turner, a 6-foot point guard, averaged 21 points, 7.6 rebounds and 3.7 assists as GCC went 24-4 and made the WPIAL Class 2A championship game.

He was a TribLive Westmoreland all-star and a second-team all-state selection.

Turner, who has a 6-foot-6 wing span, finished with 1,445 career points. He also played quarterback in football and played several positions in baseball, including pitcher.

Talent show

Not many teams from Westmoreland County can say they have three Division I prospects or recruits on their opening-day roster. But that will be the case for Latrobe football this fall.

The Wildcats feature a pair of high-level commits on defense: seniors Alex Tatsch and John Wetzel.

Tatsch is a run-stopping linebacker who has committed to Penn State. Wetzel, a disruptive safety, is headed to Marshall.

The pair combined for 184 tackles and seven interceptions last season.

Also keep and eye on junior defensive back Andy Tatsch, who has an offer from West Virginia.

Tarpley to GCC

Basketball player A.J. Tarpley will be wearing a new uniform next season.

The sophomore point guard is transferring from Greensburg Salem to Greensburg Central Catholic.

Tarpley averaged 13.8 points and 7 assists as a freshman for the Golden Lions.

He is working on his game with some specialized instruction. Tarpley is getting one-on-one instruction from former Pitt standout Carl Krauser.

Tarpley’s father, Anthony, used to play pick-up basketball with Krauser and has maintained a friendship.

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.

Tags: Greensburg C.C., Greensburg Salem, Latrobe, Yough