rode home with her father, Bill, after the Steelers' victory Saturday night against the Jets. During the ride to their Fox Chapel home, the Steelers' coach said something that struck his daughter.
"It was funny because he just said he didn't think it really hit him yet that they won that game," Lauren said. "And he said he didn't think everything that's happening to us has sunk in yet."
For the Cowhers, "everything" has been a big success lately.
We don't need to tell you what Bill has done. Then there's Meagan, an impact freshman on the Princeton women's basketball team. She leads the team in scoring (12.8) and rebounding (5.7) and has been Ivy League freshman of the week four times.
And then there's Lauren, a 5-foot-7 junior at Fox Chapel whose basketball talent is bringing some more attention to the family. Lauren has developed into an accomplished guard at Fox Chapel, leading the team in scoring with a 14-point average. She is one of the primary reasons the Foxes are in the hunt for a playoff berth in WPIAL Class AAAA Section 3 with a 5-4 record (8-9 overall). The top four teams make the playoffs.
"I think this team has kind of exceeded expectations," Lauren said.
Kind of like the Steelers.
Fox Chapel has only one senior on the team. Cowher, a starter since her freshman year, has taken over the lead role on the team this season.
"Losing Meg and some other seniors, there was an opening for me to step up and take more of a responsibility," Lauren said. "I kind of had to fill the scoring void. I'm pleased with how we've done so far."
Lauren is the middle daughter of Bill and Kaye Cowher. Possibly the best of the Cowher girls has yet to put on a Fox Chapel uniform. Lindsay Cowher is an eighth-grader who is being touted as a player with a bright future. She already is 6 feet.
"I'm kind of the family runt," Lauren said with a laugh. "But it's worked out nicely because I'll get to play with both of my sisters. They need a guard to pass them the ball anyway."
Lindsay is expected to play on the Fox Chapel varsity as a freshman next season.
"Our family's been pretty successful as a unit this year," Lauren said. "It's just nice to be in a family where everyone is in the world of athletics. It's nice to have even when things aren't going well."
King All-American
Gateway football standout Justin King has been selected to the prestigious Parade All-American team as a defensive back. The team consists of the top 58 players in the country.
King played Saturday in the Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio and is enrolled at Penn State for the spring semester. He has graduated from Gateway and will be eligible to participate in spring football practices at Penn State.
It's a challenge
Taking a cue from the Big East-ACC Challenge in college basketball, boys' teams from two WPIAL Class AAAA sections will play Saturday on two college campuses. It is called the Section 3-4 Challenge, with four games being played at La Roche College and four at Washington & Jefferson. Some proceeds from the event will go to charity.
Chartiers Valley coach Tim McConnell and Seneca Valley coach Victor Giannotta started talking about the idea last spring. Coaches and athletic directors from both schools got together and decided on the matchups.
The top game of the bunch is Shaler vs. Chartiers Valley at 7 p.m. at La Roche. Shaler is tied for first place in Section 3 while Chartiers Valley is only one game out of first place in Section 4. The other three games at La Roche are North Allegheny vs. Canon-McMillan (1 p.m.), Pine-Richland vs. Peters Township (3 p.m.) and North Hills vs. Bethel Park (5 p.m.).
The games at Washington & Jefferson are Trinity vs. Seneca Valley (1 p.m.), Ringgold vs. New Castle (3 p.m.), Upper St. Clair vs. Fox Chapel (5 p.m.) and Mt. Lebanon vs. Butler (7 p.m.).
McConnell said the schools involved have agreed to the 3-4 Challenge for two years. Some of the matchups might be tweaked for next year.
But if those involved really want to make this interesting, they should try this: Wait until the first half of section play ends and then match the first-place teams in each section against each other, the second-place teams together, and so on.
"We just talked about that this week," McConnell said.
But there is more than section pride on the line this year. There is dinner. If one section wins more games Saturday, the other section's coaches must buy dinner at an outing this spring.
"I know if our section doesn't win, I'll be paying double," McConnell said. "Because I know [Upper St. Clair coach] Danny Holzer never pays for anybody."
Honoring Warner
Brentwood will honor girls' basketball coach Dave Warner before the team's home game Monday against South Park. Warner is retiring after the season.
Warner is the only coach in the history of Brentwood girls' basketball, except for 1997-98 after his wife died. His record in 31 years is 533-235. He won two WPIAL championships, was the runner-up seven times and made the playoffs 24 times.
While on the subject of honoring coaches, Frazier High School will name its basketball field house after former boys' coach Henry DiVirgilio. The school also will honor him at halftime of tomorrow night's game.
Check this out
Heading into this week, the Beaver Falls boys were the third-highest scoring team in the state, averaging 74.3 points a game. Blairsville was No. 1 at 78.7 and Steelton-Highspire No. 2 at 77.4. Other WPIAL schools in the top 10 were No. 4 Summit Academy (73.2) and No. 7 Geibel (72.0).
Carmichaels was fourth in the state in points allowed. The Mikes came into the week giving up only 39.3 points. West Shamokin was fifth at 39.4.
The WPIAL decided Monday to have a hearing with junior forward Antonio DiMaria, who transferred to Bishop Canevin a few weeks ago from Sewickley Academy.
Son of Agnus
Joe Berenato is showing promise as a 6-foot-1 sophomore guard on the Central Catholic team. Maybe he has learned a thing or two from his mother -- Pitt women's coach Agnus Berenato.
"He shoots it pretty well, but lately he's really showed a knack for taking the ball to the hoop," Central Catholic coach Chuck Crummie said. "You can see him developing day by day. If he continues to mature and gets in the weight room, he could be a prospect."
First Published: January 20, 2005, 5:00 a.m.
