Early agate
March 5
1937 – Hank Day, head football coach at Washington & Jefferson College, is hired for the same position at Farrell High School.
1952 – Undefeated Washington High School gets 18 points from John Riser and 15 from Gene Steratore to defeat Midland 60-34 in the WPIAL Class A basketball quarterfinals at the Pitt Field House.
1956 – McDonald never trails and cruises to a 50-43 victory over Shannock Valley in the WPIAL Class B semifinals at the Pitt Field House. Terry Smith leads McDonald’s offense with 16 points.
1963 – Jim Simon leads three Washington players in double figures with 17 points and the Little Presidents upset Homestead 66-43 in the WPIAL Class A quarterfinals.
1966 – Trinity edges Waynesburg and Canon-McMillan for the team title at the WPIAL Wrestling Championships at Wash High. Three Hillers, Ron Junko (103 pounds), John Abajace (120) and John Long (154), win individual titles.
1970 – Joe Hester scores 22 points and California pulls away in the fourth quarter for a 64-52 victory over Avonworth in the WPIAL Class B basketball semifinals at the Civic Arena.
1971 – California State College’s Ray Greene, who averaged 23.2 points per game, is named the NAIA District 18 Basketball Player of the Year.
1973 – New York Yankees pitchers Fritz Peterson and Mike Kekich announce that they’ve swapped wives and children.
1977 – Norm Nixon scores 27 points to lead Duquesne to a 57-54 upset of Villanova in the finals of the first Eastern Collegiate Basketball League tournament in Philadelphia. The win secures a berth in the NCAA tournament for the Dukes.
1977 – Donald Williams scores 25 points as Notre Dame upsets undefeated and top-ranked San Francisco, 93-82.
1980 – Joe Hester’s 22 points power California past Avonworth 64-52 in the WPIAL Class B semifinals at the Civic Arena.
1985 – Washington’s boys basketball team defeats Monessen 63-53 in the WPIAL Class AA semifinals at Ringgold High School. It’s Washington’s 50th consecutive victory.
1985 – Immaculate Conception gets 30 points and 16 rebounds form Becky Burlingham and dominates Monessen 73-33 in the WPIAL Class A girls basketball semifinals at Ringgold.
1986 – Waynesburg College wins its third consecutive NAIA District 18 basketball championship, surviving a slowdown and defeating Westminster 59-49 at College Gym. Theron Hogue scores 16 points and Darrin Walls has 15 for the Yellow Jackets.
1986 – The Washington boys basketball team moves into the WPIAL Class AA championship game by defeating Bishop Boyle 76-58 in the semifinals at Chartiers Valley. Mark Popeck scores 21 points for Wash High.
1986 – Becky Burlingham has game highs of 18 points and 15 rebounds to lead Immaculate Conception to a 52-30 victory over Shannock Valley in the WPIAL Class A semifinals at North Allegheny.
1994 – Terry Wilkins scores 25 points and Washington & Jefferson upsets host Kenyon, the top seed in the Great Lakes Region, 75-58, in the NCAA Division III men’s basketball tournament.
March 6
1950 – Frank Gustine, St. Louis Browns infielder and former Pittsburgh Pirate, resigns as basketball coach at Waynesburg College to concentrate on his baseball career. In three seasons, Gustine guided Waynesburg to a 45-22 record and the NAIA national tournament in 1949.
1954 – Trinity wins its first WPIAL team title and produces four individual titlists at the WPIAL Wrestling Championships. The Hillers’ winners are Bill Bane (95 pounds), Joe Shook (112), Bill Gallo (145) and Lou Craig (154).
1968 – Ron Guziak sets Duquesne’s single-game scoring record with 50 points in the Dukes’ 109-103 win over St. Francis (Pa.) in Altoona.
1971 – Washington’s George Bryant decisions defending state champion Tom Teagarden of McGuffey 7-1 to highlight the Section 3 wrestling tournament finals before more than 3,000 at W&J’s Henry Memorial Center.
1971 – The Pittsburgh Condors’ Stew Johnson sets the ABA single-game scoring record with 61 points in a 142-129 victory over the Floridians at the Civic Arena. Johnson, who did not score in his previous Condors game, makes 25 of 44 shots.
1976 – McGuffey edges Avella by two points to win the team title at the WPIAL Class AA Wrestling Championships at California State College. Kevin Brown (98 pounds) and Jerry Main (105) win individual titles for the Highlanders.
1982 – Pitt, playing its final game as a member of the Eastern 8, upsets nationally ranked West Virginia, 79-72, to win the conference tournament at the Civic Arena.
1982 – Washington’s Rod Fuqua pins top-seed Joe Iagnemma of South Fayette in 4:22 to win the 98-pound championship at the Section 9-AA tournament. Fuqua, who entered the tournament unseeded, beats the top three seeds en route to the title.
1983 – The 12-team United States Football League begins its first season with five games.
1984 – Jamie LeMon scores 19 points and Washington wins its 21st consecutive game, 79-62, over Ford City in the WPIAL Class AA basketball semifinals.
1985 – Paul Stanley scores 22 points and Harold Hamlin has 17 as Waynesburg College wins the NAIA District 18 championship for the third time in five years, beating visiting Saint Vincent 74-66. Waynesburg (23-4) advances to the NAIA tournament in Kansas City.
1992 – Kenney Toomer scores 23 points and California University, ranked No. 1 in NCAA Division II, defeats West Chester in the PSAC tournament semifinals at Hamer Hall.
2001 – Bill Mazeroski, who perfected the art of turning the double play as a second baseman and was the hero of the Pittsburgh Pirates’ win in the 1960 World Series, is elected to baseball’s Hall of Fame.
2004 – Pittsburgh snaps an NHL-record 16-game home winless streak with a 2-1 victory over Anaheim. The Penguins were 0-15-1 at Mellon Arena since defeating Chicago on Dec. 29.
2012 – Ericka Ford scores 10 of her 16 points in the second half as South Fayette defeats St. Mary’s 43-36 in a PIAA Class AAA girls basketball play-in game.