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Local Sports Briefs 1/8/09
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Blue Jays give Lupek his 500th victory
Conemaugh Valley’s boys began WestPAC section play Monday night with a 56-49 victory over visiting Ferndale, and also gave coach Garry Lupek a milestone victory in the process.
Lupek earned his 500th career win as the Blue Jays (4-3, 1-0) turned back a strong second-half challenge from the Yellow Jackets (3-7, 0-1).
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Panthers trip up Vikings
Shanksville-Stonycreek found out Monday night just how difficult it can be to defend against the Shade boys basketball team.
The Panthers tore out to an early lead, fueled by 9 of 14 shooting from 3-point range, and went on to a 78-62 victory in a physical WestPAC South confrontation over the rival Vikings.
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Local basketball in brief
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Red Devils honoring big names
The Central Cambria program will honor its proud past tonight as the Red Devils look to make a statement about their future.
Before taking on Penn Cambria in a Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference clash, Central Cambria will induct the inaugural class into its wrestling hall of fame. It includes Mike “Huff” Williams, who started the Red Devils program 40 years ago, Rich Vetock and Tom Vaux.
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Hilltop edged for title by OLSH at Windber Rotary
Former Windber coach Mike Rodriguez completed a successful homecoming Tuesday night as his Our Lady of the Sacred Heart squad captured the championship of the 49th annual Windber Rotary Tournament with a 64-54 victory over Westmont.
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Bennett best on major stage at POWERade tourney
This year, Zac Bennett rid himself of the one impediment to his career as a wrestler: Football.
The 215-pound senior from Westmont Hilltop missed the last wrestling season after suffering a knee injury in football season.
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Hall hits mark, lifts Rams to tournament victory
Laurel Valley’s Patrick Hall had quite the day Tuesday.
With 33 points, he easily eclipsed the 1,000-point mark for his career. He brought home tournament MVP honors and his Laurel Valley squad captured the boys championship of the Ligonier Valley Holiday Basketball Classic with a 61-47 win over host Ligonier Valley.
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Westmont works overtime to stop Trojans, earn title shot at Windber tourney
Westmont came up big down the stretch and handed Johnstown its first loss of the year in a 51-49 overtime thriller to earn a berth in tonight’s Windber Rotary Tournament championship game.
The Hilltoppers will face Our Lady of the Sacred Heart for the tourney title after the suburban Pittsburgh squad pulled away in the second half to knock off host Windber 75-48.
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Local basketball briefs 12/30
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Hilltop pair on to POWERade wrestling semis
Any wrestler realizes the road to a gold medal is easier to navigate when some of the speed bumps have been removed.
So, Tanner Hough’s path to the 112-pound title at the Powerade Christmas Wrestling Tournament was made a little less dangerous Monday night when Tyler Goodwin of Mount St. Joseph knocked off No. 3-seed Geoff Alexander of Shady Side Academy 10-6 in the second round.
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T-D All-Area Football Team: Honoring the stars that thrilled area fans
The unpredictable 2008 high school football season officially ends for The Tribune-Democrat staff with the publication of the 17th annual All-Area Football Team.
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Eagles soar in Boswell
Somerset won the boys championship of the 42nd annual Boswell Jaycees Tournament, the Golden Eagles fourth straight title, Sunday night with a 70-50 victory over host North Star.
Forest Hills was the consolation winner with a 53-43 victory over Richland.
Tournament MVP Ryan Fisher and Cody Hemminger topped the Somerset scoring with 15 points apiece while Anthony Papini added 10 in the title game.
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Eagles, Cougars to meet tonight
The Somerset and North Star boys earned spots in today’s championship game of the 42nd annual Boswell Jaycees Tournament.
The Golden Eagles edged Richland 74-72 while the host Cougars held off Forest Hills 66-57 in opening-round games on Saturday.
What a difference a little more than a week made for Somerset and the Rams, who just played in a Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference Section 2 game on Dec. 19, a 93-56 victory for the Eagles.
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T-D All-Area Offensive Player of the Year: Multi-talented Panther was a force at many spots
Penn Cambria junior Zak Newton kept defenses guessing during the Panthers 2008 campaign.
Depending on what formation the Cresson squad ran, Newton might be in as the tailback, fullback, quarterback or a receiver.
“He’s such an athletic player that we like to take advantage of his prowess in a variety of different positions,” Penn Cambria coach Ernie Fetzer said. “There wasn’t too much that we didn’t ask him to do. He brought a lot to the table.”
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T-D All-Area Defensive Player of the Year: Ligonier Valley senior emerged as the area’s best
Anyone who kept an eye on Ligonier Valley’s Matt Beckman during a Mounties defensive stand had to stay alert and find the ball.
The senior linebacker moved toward the play quickly and efficiently, and left offensive lines concerned about where he would be on every down.
For his performance, Beckman was selected The Tribune-Democrat’s Defensive Player of the Year.
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T-D All-Area Coach of the Year: Veteran Ramblers boss led team out of early season funk, to district title
Three weeks into the scholastic season, Phil DeMarco’s Windber Ramblers possessed an unimpressive 1-2 record.
Windber was coming off back-to-back losses in which Conemaugh Township (14-0) and Portage (56-8) had spanked the Ramblers by a combined 70-8 count.
The team lost its starting quarterback to injury during Week 3. Other bumps and bruises took their toll as well.
Season over? Not quite.
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Tourney spurs local grapplers
For the second consecutive season, a local high school will go into the POWERade Christmas Wrestling Tournament without its biggest star.
A year ago, Westmont Hilltop was without Zac Bennett.
He’s back this year and is the top seed at 215 pounds. But North Star will enter the tournament – which is ranked as the nation’s fourth best by Wrestling Report – without Joe Lascari, a two-time POWERade placewinner.
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Host Huskies capture title
Defense wins championships, basketball coaches say, and that is the facet of the game that propelled Bishop Carroll to the championship of the County Seat Tournament on Saturday night.
The Huskies pulled away in the second half to outlast Penn Cambria 51-40 in the championship game at Bishop Carroll.
