May 15, 2015 4 min read

Rebecca Turney could not go any longer. The junior center for the Canon-McMillan girls basketball team missed 11 games with a torn meniscus in her knee and returned Feb. 2 against section rival Bethel Park, as the Big Macs made a push toward the WPIAL playoffs.

Despite the injury, Turney imposed her will in the lane and used her 6-4 frame to help C-M give the playoff-bound Black Hawks trouble, but she told head coach Frank Zebrasky the physical nature of her position was taking its toll.

Turney missed the rest of the season, but is back on the basketball court for her AAU team – the Western Pennsylvania Bruins – this spring and is preparing for her senior high school season with few worries.

Accepting a Division I scholarship can help. Turney committed to Eastern Michigan University, which competes in the Mid-American Conference, earlier this month.

“The coaches made me feel comfortable, and when I first went to campus, it really made me feel like I was at home,” Turney said.

Despite the injury, Turney averaged 12.6 points per game and was dominant for the Big Macs. She joined the program after transferring from Bishop Canevin – a Class AA power – and experienced few growing pains moving up to the WPIAL’s top classification.

With Turney in the lineup, the Big Macs started the season with an 8-2 record and the top offense in Class AAAA. They were in second place and, arguably, the top team in Section 4-AAAA.

“Not only did she have an impact on who we played against, but she had an impact on our team. It allowed us to do some things defensively. When you have a shot blocker hanging around the basket, you still have someone back there who can also alter shots,” Zebrasky said. “It allows your defense to recover and utilize your quickness.”

Turney chose the Eagles over interest from New Mexico, Bryant, Quinnipiac, James Madison and several other MAC programs.

With a scholarship in hand, Turney is setting her sights on accomplishing what she could not as a junior – leading Canon-McMillan to the WPIAL playoffs.

“We were picked to make the playoffs this year and then when the injury happened, we were one game out,” Turney said. “This coming season, we’re picked to win our section, so that will be exciting. I can’t wait.”

Trinity seniors Forrest Cullings and Robert West will continue their football careers at the next level.

Cullings, who is Trinity’s top-ranked student in the Class of 2015, will major in business and play football at Carnegie Mellon. West, who holds a 4.5 weighted grade point average, chose Washington & Jefferson.

Cullings, the Hillers’ starting quarterback the past two seasons, led the Hillers to three wins in their final four games. He surpassed 1,000 passing yards and completed more than 50 percent of his passes in both seasons, including an all-Big Nine Conference selection last fall.

West, a three-year starter in football and four-year letterwinner in wrestling, was a team captain with Cullings the past two seasons. Trinity’s fullback, West missed parts of three games with injuries, but was pivotal upon his return – leading a potent rushing offense and calling defensive plays as an inside linebacker.

“It has been my privilege and good fortune to have coached both Forrest Cullings and Robert West,” former Trinity head coach Ryan Coyle said. “They will undoubtedly succeed at anything they set out to accomplish. The sky is truly the limit for them.”

Five months after leading South Fayette football to its second consecutive PIAA Class AA title last fall, junior Hunter Hayes is gaining traction in recruiting circles.

The 6-0, 190-pound running back/defensive back picked up his first scholarship offer from Saint Francis University (Pa.), which competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision.

Hayes, an Observer-Reporter Elite 11 selection, finished second in the WPIAL with 2,103 rushing yards and 33 touchdowns, including 1,168 yards and 12 touchdowns in seven playoff games. His 198 points were more than 50 teams in the district.

Jordan Allen, a McMurray native who attends Mercersburg Academy, will continue his swimming career at Hamilton College, an NCAA Division III school in Clinton, N.Y.

A member of the Blue Storm’s swimming program the past four years, Allen was a co-captain for two seasons and helped Mercersburg to an eighth-place finish at the Eastern Interscholastic Swimming & Division Championships, where he was part of the 400-meter freestyle relay.

An academic all-Mid-Atlantic Prep League selection, Allen also competed on the baseball and track teams for Mercersburg Academy, a co-educational college prepatory boarding school.