Hopewell High School graduate Christa Harmotto, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review 2005 Female Athlete of the Year, was one of 12 players selected to the USA Junior National Team that will compete in the FIVB Junior Women's Under-20 World Championships beginning Saturday in Ankara, Turkey. Harmotto, a 6-foot-4 middle hitter who will attend Penn State, was a member of the USA team that qualified for the World Championships by winning a gold medal at the 2004 NORCECA zone championships last August in Winnipeg.
Baseball
Ambridge High School infielder Gary Bucuren, the Pirates' 34th-round pick in last month's draft, has decided to attend the University of Kentucky. "I'm going to go to college," Bucuren said. Basketball
Shayla Scott , a rising junior at Gateway High School, earned all-American honors at the Junior AAU 16U girls' basketball finals last week at Lake Buena Vista, Fla. Scott, a 6-foot guard/forward, helped the Western PA Hoopsters to a fifth-place finish in the 97-team field. She was one of 16 players to be named an All-American.
The Pittsburgh Jots 16U team advanced to the finals of the Junior AAU boys' basketball national tournament Wednesday in New Orleans, before losing to Mt. Royal Team Melo (Md.), 53-51. The Jots won seven in a row to reach the finals of the 84-team bracket. The Jots 17U teams begin action Saturday outside Orlando in the Junior AAU national tournament.
