Forest Hills coach Carol Cecere took extra time to address her team after Wednesday’s 53-44 loss to West York.

It may have been St. Patrick’s Day, but the green-clad Nativity BVM squad had no luck of the Irish on Wednesday night against Northern Cambria.

For Ken Bussard, it’s about time.

North Star’s appearance Tuesday night in the second-round of the PIAA Class AA playoff game against the top-ranked Villa Maria Academy girls was bittersweet.
The Cougars came out on the losing end of a hard-fought 55-34 battle at Butler High School, but it was one of the first times all season when their opponents did not evoke the mercy rule.

The Conemaugh Valleys boys basketball team had put together a spectacular season that often saw them start small but finishing big.
This time the early hole was too deep to dig out of, and the Jays fell 62-41 to Neshannock in PIAA Class A playoff action at North Hills High.
“This is going to sting for a while,” said Valley Coach Garry Lupek “We just had a night where the ball would not go through the rim. Twelve or even 14 points down in the fourth, this team can do it, but down by 20-something and we couldn’t hit a shot – it is just too much.”

A lot of experience and talent will be on the floor tonight when District 6 runner-up Northern Cambria and District 11 runner-up Nativity BVM meet in the second round of the PIAA Class A girls basketball playoffs at Lewistown High.
Nativity returns its entire starting five from last year’s state runner-up squad. Northern Cambria has three 1,000-point scorers and four seniors, and all of them played on a state-runner up team two years ago.

Both Forest Hills and West York enter the second round of the PIAA Class AAA girls basketball playoffs in unfamiliar territory.
The District 6 Class AAA champion Rangers (19-6) won their first state playoff game, 48-42, over Manheim Central. Likewise, West York was a 42-38 winner over Mount St. Joseph Academy in the Bulldogs’ first-ever tournament appearance.
Rangers coach Carol Cecere knows her team has the tools to advance even deeper in the playoffs. She wanted to make sure her players understood as much before their imminent encounter against a 28-2 District 3 team.

The Conemaugh Valley and Tussey Mountain girls basketball teams have played only one mutual opponent, but both squads are well aware of the other’s path to their second-round PIAA Class A game at 7:30 tonight at Hollidaysburg High School.
The Titans, who play in the Sideling Hill League, defeated Shade 55-43 in the District 5 championship game. During the regular season, the Blue Jays downed the Panthers 50-39 in WestPAC action.

The Bishop McCort hockey team made the most of its power-play opportunities Monday night and came away with a 5-3 PIHL Class A quarterfinal win over crosstown rival Westmont at the Cambria County War Memorial.

When the North Star girls advanced to the second round of the 2009 PIAA basketball tournament, they hadn’t made it that far since 1974.
The gap since the Cougars last appearance in the second round is only a year this time as the District 5 Class AA champions take on defending state champion Villa Maria Academy at 6 p.m. tonight at Butler High School.

Conemaugh Valley is making its first foray into the Sweet 16 since 2006 tonight when the District 6 champion Blue Jays play District 7-5 finisher Neshannock in a 7:30 p.m. Class A matchup at North Hills High School in Pittsburgh.

Five area basketball squads remain in the hunt for a state basketball title when the PIAA playoffs continue this week.

Johnstown’s version of the clash of the hockey titans is set for 7 tonight at Cambria County War Memorial Arena.
Fourth-seeded Bishop McCort (15-6-1), which had a first-round bye, will play fifth-seeded Westmont Hilltop (15-7-1) in a PIHL Class A quarterfinal with a berth in the Penguin Cup semifinals on the line.

Richland coach Tom Smith told John Rizzo before the finals of the PIAA Class AA Wrestling Championships to go into a phonebooth and put the “S” on his chest.
Rizzo certainly looked like Superman in making history on Saturday.
The 6-foot, 245-pounder beat Ridgway’s Joe Chittester 3-2 in the 285-pound finals to become the first sophomore to win the PIAA’s heaviest weight class in the event’s 72-year-history.

A week ago, Portage’s Shawn Perich beat Nick Carr for the Southwest Regional championship at Cambria County War Memorial Arena.
But on Saturday, Carr was standing atop the podium at the PIAA Class AA Wrestling Championships while Perich was to his right as the third-place winner.

Never count a District 6 girls basketball team out of the PIAA playoffs against a District 7 squad.
Conemaugh Valley (19-6), the 6-3 seed, came back from an early deficit Saturday against District 7 runner-up North Catholic, then used a calm demeanor and a well-rounded team effort to eliminate the Trojanettes 54-49 in a Class A first round-game at North Allegheny High School.

Conventional thinking can be tossed out the window when it comes to the Steelton-Highspire girls’ basketball team.
Saturday afternoon the Rollers missed 52 shots, misfired on 20 free throws and turned it over 21 times in the second half against Bishop Carroll, the fourth seed from rugged District 6.
Yet Steel-High managed to cruise past the Huskies with relative ease, logging a 68-53 victory in the opening round of the PIAA Class A Tournament at Central Dauphin East.

Quigley Catholic used balanced scoring, a solid defense and one momentum-swaying, buzzer-beating 3-pointer to defeat Shade 67-45 in a PIAA Class A girls basketball playoff at Pitt-Johnstown on Saturday afternoon.

To say that the Lady Colts of Northern Cambria came out running on Saturday would be an understatement.
Northern sprinted out to a 20-4 lead over Camp Hill, increasing that lead to 31-12 at halftime in a 59-37 victory in the PIAA Class A playoffs at Central Cambria High School.