Tag: Highlands
Scholastic Notebook – 01/22/2016
January 22, 2016
There seems to be some question as to how good the top teams really are in WPIAL Class AA Section 4 basketball. Brownsville is 13-4, Charleroi 12-3 and Waynesburg 7-7. History makes you wonder about the strength of the teams. Among the three, there are a total of three WPIAL titles and only one in the past 50-plus years. Brownsville won a championship in 2001 while Charleroi won titles in 1940 and 1958. On top of that, no one from the section has done much in the playoffs in recent history. But while many may question the strength of the teams in the section, there is no question that Section 4 is where the scorers reside.Chicks Picks – Week 10 – 2015
November 5, 2015
Welcome to Week 10 of the high school football season. As a veteran prognosticator, Chick’s Picks has received countless commendations over the years. None of these honors, however, were quite as prestigious as the one earned this week. Chick’s Picks received an anonymous phone call early Sunday morning. The caller, a woman, told Chick’s Picks that her presence was requested by The Committee on Monday afternoon. Confused, Chick’s Picks inquired further as to which committee the woman was referring. The woman simply said, “Report to the Double Tree Hotel in Greentree at noon tomorrow. Bring your crystal ball. All of your questions will be answered there.”WPIAL Big Game Hunting – First Round
The Highway to Heinz begins this week, a very exciting time in southwestern Pennsylvania and at the MSA Sports Network. We have been stretched to the max by the fall championship season but with one final tug we found a way to carry every single WPIAL football playoff game yet again. We wouldn’t have it any other way. Most years I fall in love with 8 v 9 games, but this year was different for me. Looking through the brackets I found myself most fascinated by three of the 7 v 10 games. Hey at this point they’re all big games, so easy pickins as we go post season Big Game Hunting. Class AAAA:WPIAL Friday Night HighLights – Week Two 2015
September 12, 2015
While Mother Nature held off on the fancy sky light shows and the rain that plagued many games on opening night, the second Friday of the season was an historic one in two ways. First, a tip of the cap 700 times to the Jeannette Jayhawks for becoming only the second district school and sixth school in Pennsylvania to mass that many wins. And one win has eluded Thomas Jefferson in the first two weeks of a season for the first time in the 21-year golden career of head coach Bill Cherpek. It was also a memorable Friday for these young men: Phil Jurkovec - Pine-RichlandChick Picks for Week Two
September 10, 2015
Welcome to Week 2 of the high school football season. The term Friday Night Lights was given new meaning last week, with severe storms and lightning causing several Week 1 games to be delayed and even postponed. Earlier last week, Chick’s Picks was contacted by one of her fellow MSA Sports broadcasters, Matt Vandriak, who had a proposition for the prognosticator. He said, “Hey Chick’s – I’m going to be broadcasting the inaugural Armstrong River Hawks game Friday night. I think it would be great if I could take your crystal ball along to the press box. Good PR for the network.” Chick’s Picks, who is not one to pass up publicity, agreed. So, off went the crystal ball.
CTK 2015 – Class AA Allegheny Conference Preview
August 26, 2015
You could say variety has been a big part of the Allegheny Conference in recent years. Since 2010, five different teams have either won the conference title or tied for first place. During that time, the only team to win the conference outright or tie for first in more than one year is Freeport, which tied for first in 2011 and 2012. The other teams to win or tie were Ford City (2010), Shady Side Academy (2011), Burrell (2012), Kittanning (2013) and Highlands (2014). Who will win the conference this year? There are some differing opinions as to who is the team to beat, although Highlands probably gets the nod. But this is for sure: The conference has a different look this season.
2015 Positive Athlete Awards
May 19, 2015
2015 Positive Athlete Awards On Wednesday, May 13th, 27 Western PA High School students were recognized at the John Heinz History Center by Hines Ward as “Positive Athletes” . These athletes were nominated by coaches, teachers, administrators, parents, and friends for their ability to meet the following criteria in their day-to day lives as athletes, students and members of their communities.Scholastic Notebook – 02/20/2015
February 20, 2015
Highlands and Bishop Canevin are in the WPIAL boys basketball quarterfinals. Who would’ve thought you’d read that sentence this year? Highlands and Bishop Canevin are two of the biggest turnaround stories in the league over the past few years. Highlands (13-11) will play Indiana in the WPIAL Class AAA quarterfinals tonight. Two years ago, Highlands finished 1-21 under first-year coach Tyler Stoczynski. Highlands started to show signs of improvement last year, but still finished 9-13 and out of the playoffs.Chicks Picks – Week Eleven – 2014
November 6, 2014
Welcome to Week 11 of the high school football season. Chick’s Picks is an avid fan of the Pittsburgh Dad video series, always looking forward to new episodes every Tuesday. Needless to say, she was pleasantly surprised this Tuesday, when she saw her own name mentioned in the caption. Chick’s Picks clicked play without further delay. Pittsburgh Dad started off the episode in his finest Pittsburghese, “Yinz heard about that lady that says she can predict WPIAL football games? Well, I can do that, too. Hey Deb, bring me my magic eight ball.”WPIAL Big Game Hunting – Week Eleven
November 5, 2014
And so we are off on the Highway to Heinz, some great games in the first round as always but things will really pick up here in the quarters. The first round was fairly “chalk” with A being the only classification to lose more than one higher seeded team, yes Beth Center and Frazier were both from the TCS. AA lost only an eight seed as South Park blocked Beaver’s attempt at a game-winning field goal as time expired. AAA saw only their seven seed, Montour go out falling hard to Mars. AAAA had just one upset but it was by far the biggest “eyebrow raiser” of the night as the Plum Mustangs ousted the four, Penn Hills. Who will surprise us in the quarters? Let’s go Big Game Hunting, and see if we find anything!
