TNA Activities

Kierra Arnold and Aaron Holness are the king and queen of the SWCAC Golf Championships

2011-05-19T11:38:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday May 10, 2011, the first ever Southwest Christian Athletic
Conference golf championships took place. Kierra Arnold was the
overall girls champion shooting an impressive 70 on the Bob O'Connor
golf course. Illana Campbell (76) took second place honors and DeAsia
Davidson (83) was third overall. The girls dominated the field
beating second place Christian Fellowship Academy by 60 strokes
becoming the SWCAC team champions.

On the gentlemen's side, Aaron Holness was the overall SWCAC Boys
champion with a score of 54 while Marcus Denson finished third overall
and Brian Walker was fifth. The boys were SWCAC runners-up as a team to
Christian Fellowship Academy. Go Golf!

Athletes honored at TNA Awards banquet

2011-05-19T11:32:00.000-07:00

The Neighborhood Academy Athletic Awards Banquet was held last evening at the
St. Lawrence O'Toole Gymnasium in Garfield. Athletes in all sports
were recognized and each team awarded a Most Valuable Player and a
Most Improved Athlete.

Soccer Most Improved-David Ingram
Soccer MVP-Cornell Farmer
Volleyball Most Improved-Dajiah Allen
Volleyball MVP-Rhumesia Brooks
Flag Football Most Improved-Isaiah Boswell
Flag Footbal MVP-Bruce Stewart
Golf Most Improved Male-Tylen Sinkler
Golf MVP Male-Aaron Holness
Golf Most Improved Female-Rhumesia Brooks
Golf MVP-Kierra Arnold
Boys Basketball Most Improved-Bruce Stewart
Boys Basketball MVP-Aaron Holness
Girls Basketball Most Improved-Claire Johnson
Girls Basketball MVP-Samantha Gyles
Girls Field Most Improved-Chantel Cannon
Girls Field MVP-Kelsey Brooks
Girls Track Most Improved-Claire Johnson
Girls Track MVP-Dajiah Allen
Boys Field Most Improved-Tyler Johnson
Boys Field MVP-Tyler Johnson
Boys Track Most Improved-Shawn Terrell
Boys Track MVP-Shawn Terrell

Congratulations to all of the parents, faculty, friends, supporters
and most importantly the student-athletes for making this a very
memorable and successful athletic year!!

Freddie Mae Stewart qualifies for the WPIAL AA Track and Field Finals; Tyler Johnson breaks three school records at Mars

2011-05-19T11:28:00.000-07:00

Freddie Mae Stewart made sure the six year streak of The Neighborhood
Academy sending an athlete to the WPIAL Track and Field finals
continued as she qualified in the javelin with a throw of 96'2". The
meet will take place at Baldwin on May 19, 2011. Freddie Mae becomes
only the second field events finalist in the history of Neighborhood
Academy Track and Field. Although he did not qualify for the WPIAL
finals, Tyler Johnson broke three school records at the WPIAL
qualifiers at Mars. Tyler first broke his own discus record by nine
inches with a throw of 90'3". Tyler then ventured to the shot put
where he threw 35'9" besting the old mark by a foot. Finally, Tyler
destroyed the old javelin record by twelve feet with a throw of
119'9". Great job Freddie and Tyler!

Girls Track and Field NCSAA II National Runners-up

2011-05-19T11:26:00.000-07:00

The Neighborhood Academy Girls Track and Field team participated in
the NCSAA II National Championships on May 1st and came home National
runners-up. Only eight girls from TNA participated in this meet where
they competed against schools with 30-40 athletes on each team. The
Lady Bulldogs walked away with 4 Division II National Champions from
the meet: Dajiah Allen (200, 300IH), Claire Johnson (Long Jump) and
the 400m relay team of Dajiah Allen, Briana Arnold, Kelsey Brooks, and
Claire Johnson. Congratulations Lady Bulldogs!!!

Bulldogs Shine at Monessen Invitational

2011-04-11T10:27:00.000-07:00

The Neighborhood Academy's track and field teams competed at the 3rd
annual Monessen Invitational on Saturday and came home with new school
records in multiple events, 2 qualifiers for the WPIAL AA Northern
Qualifiers, and a bus load of medals. Ten teams participated in the
meet with the top six finishers in each event receiving medals. The
days' best finish belonged to Freddie Mae Stewart earning the silver
medal in the javelin with a WPIAL Northern Qualifier toss of 97 feet.
Also earning a silver medal and a spot in the WPIAL AA Northern
Qualifiers was Tamesha Winbush in the 200m dash. Kelsey Brooks
medaled sixth in the javelin as well. The 3200m relay team of
Sha'raya Taylor, Chantel Talifierro, Shante Wright, and Freddie Mae
Stewart earned the bronze medal while the boys 3200m relay comprised
of Cornell Farmer, Matt Herndon, Khalil Sellers and John Skinner placed
fourth. Senior captain Taylor Randall set a new PR (18.44) while
medaling in the 100m hurdles. Freshman Dajiah Allen earned a sixth
place medal in the 400m dash, the first of her high school career.
Dajiah Allen also participated in the 400m relay which finished
fourth. Other relay participants were Taylor Randall, Claire Johnson,
and Tamesha Winbush. Kelsey Brooks earned her second medal of the day
in the shot put coming in sixth place. Finally, the girls 1600m relay
of Tamesha Winbush, Dajiah Allen, Briana Arnold, and Taylor Randall
earned the bronze medal for the Lady Bulldogs. The girls placed
fourth out of ten teams at the invitational. School records were set
by Tyler Johnson in the shot put (34'1") and the discus (86'9"). The
Bulldogs compete on Tuesday at Mount Pleasant against the host and
Serra Catholic

Lady Bulldogs and Coach Shawley Bring Home Fourth Straight League Championship; Rhumesia Brooks Garners MVP Honors.

2011-03-07T11:24:00.000-08:00

It wasn't pretty, but the Lady Bulldogs managed to bring home their
fourth consecutive TCCL Championship with a 33-17 win over Aquinas
Academy at Chatham University on Saturday afternoon. The Lady
Bulldogs struggled on offense as Aquinas was able to hold 1000 point
scorer Samantha Gyles to only 7 points. However, the girls played
outstanding defense and controlled the boards as they physically
imposed their will upon the Lady Crusaders from Aquinas. T'Wauna
Terrell stepped her game up and led all scorers with 8 points. Kelsey
Brooks tallied seven points of her own, but the star of the day was
Rhumesia Brooks. Rhumesia only scored six points, but managed to
dominate the boards grabbing 22 rebounds and scoring many key baskets
down the stretch. Rhumesia's performance earned her the Tri-County
Christian League's Most Valuable Player award. "It was a total team
effort," stated Coach Shawley as he talked about a brief three minute
span where he took all of his starters out to give them a breather.
"The starters got really tired in the fourth quarter, and I decided to
trust in my bench and send all the subs in." The scrappy bench played
their hearts out and held the Lady Crusaders at bay until the starters
were fresh enough to come back in. The win was the 27th of the season
for the Lady Bulldogs and marked the 82nd consecutive league win for
TNA.

Lady Bulldogs Headed to Sixth Championship Game!

2011-03-05T11:31:00.000-08:00

The Lady Bulldogs stormed out to a 15-0 lead and never looked back as
they dismantled the fourth seeded Lady Eagles from Evangel Heights by
a final score of 47-21. Samantha Gyles led the way with 19 points and
6 assists. The win upped the girls overall record to 27-6 on the
season. The Neighborhood Academy will square off against second
seeded Aquinas on Saturday at Chatham University @ 6pm as they seek their
fourth consecutive post season TCCL championship.

Lady Bulldogs Advance Easily to League Semi-Finals on Senior Night.

2011-03-03T06:20:00.000-08:00

The final home game of the year was played on Tuesday afternoon
against Seeds of Faith in the first round of the TCCL playoffs. It
also marked the final home game for seniors Isaiah Boswell, Taylor
Randall, Marley Barnette, Rhumesia Brooks and Samantha Gyles. The
Lady Bulldogs won easily by a score of 63-12. Rhumesia Brooks had a
career high 21 points while Samantha Gyles added 24 points of her own.
Seniors Marley Barnette and Taylor Randall also found themselves in
the scoring column. The Lady Bulldogs resume play Thursday evening
against Evangel Heights at 7pm. The game will be held at WPSD. The
girls will be attempting to make their sixth championship game in 6
years. Good luck girls!

Lady Bulldogs Clinch Regular Season TCCL Title

2011-02-14T06:54:00.000-08:00

Effective guard play has been an issue all season long for the Lady
Bulldogs, but not on Friday afternoon against Aquinas. The back court
of Kierra Arnold and T'Wauna Terrell combined for 18 of the Lady
Bulldogs' 42 points in a 42-26 victory over second place Aquinas
Academy. The victory clinched the regular season championship and the
top seed in the upcoming Tri-County Christian League playoffs. Kierra
Arnold hit three consecutive three point shots in a span of two
minutes to propel the Lady Bulldogs to a comfortable lead of 22-11 at
the half. T'Wauna Terrell began to show confidence and drove the ball
to the basket on multiple occasions, both scoring and dishing the ball
off to forwards for easy baskets. Samantha Gyles led the way with 12
points. Also contributing in double figures were Kierra Arnold with
11 and Kelsey Brooks with 10. The Lady Bulldogs resume play next
Thursday against Champion Christian at home, followed by Christian
Fellowship an hour later.`

First Baptist Plays Lady Bulldogs Tough

2011-02-10T06:30:00.000-08:00

Going into their TCCL game with the Lady Eagles from First Baptist,
TNA had not trailed in the second half of a TCCL game in three years.
However, that changed Tuesday afternoon when First Baptist went on a
12-0 run late in the third to claim a 2 point lead (22-20). The Lady
Bulldogs came out of the quarter break smoking hot and went on a run
of their own (8-0) to reclaim the lead for good and up their record to
10-0 in the league and 18-5 overall. The Lady Bulldogs were led by
Samantha Gyles's 21 points. Rhumesia Brooks and Kelsey Brooks also
chipped in 8 points each.

Pink Friday Victory

2011-01-31T06:09:00.000-08:00

Friday marked the official start to Coaches vs. Cancer week as the

Lady Bulldogs headed to rival Evangel Heights for a TCCL contest. The

Lady Bulldogs donned pink jerseys to show their support in the fight

against cancer. The Ladies started slow, but owned an 8-1 lead after

the first quarter. However, although the ladies were wearing pink,

their offense was red hot in the second quarter showing an amazing

shooting display. Kierra Arnold hit three consecutive three-point

shots, and Kelsey Brooks hit three baseline jump shots to lead TNA to a

29-5 halftime lead. "I've never witnessed a team shoot that good in a

quarter. Especially our team", stated coach Shawley. The third

quarter was owned by Samantha Gyles and Rhumesia Brooks battering EHCA

on the boards. Evangel Heights three game win streak was snapped by

TNA who remains unbeaten atop the standings at 9-0. Kelsey Brooks led

the team in scoring on Pink Friday with 14 points and Samantha chipped
in 12. Samantha's 12 points also took her over 900 points in her
career. The Lady Bulldogs resume play on Monday vs. Westmoreland
County Christian school.

JV's Down Evangel Heights; Tied Atop the JV Standings with Eagles

2011-01-31T06:08:00.000-08:00

The Lil' Lady Bulldogs avenged an early season loss to Evangel Heights
by handing the Lady Eagles a 21-14 loss. The win is significant
because it ties TNA, Aquinas, and Evangel atop the TCCL JV standings
at 4-1. Briana Arnold and Malaysia Brooks led the Lil' ladies with 6
and five points respectively.

Lady Bulldogs KO Ellis

2011-01-27T06:32:00.001-08:00

In what resembled a heavyweight boxing match, The Neighborhood Academy
girls basketball team relinquished the lead late only to regain it in
the final minute en route to a 29-28 victory over The Ellis School
last night. The Lady Tigers proved to be the most physical team the
Lady Bulldogs have encountered all year. Rhumesia Brooks and Olivia
Lawson controlled the boards for the majority of the night but it
wasn't easy. The Lady Tigers threw their bodies around like ragdolls
into the TNA girls all night long. Kelsey Brooks scored 8 points in
the first half to give the Bulldogs a 16-10 halftime lead. Illana
Campbell and T'Wauna Terrell both posted key baskets in the final
minute of the first half to keep the Lady Tigers at bay. TNA opened
up a 9 point lead early in the half behind 7 third quarter points from
Samantha Gyles. The Lady Bulldogs owned a 7 point lead going into the
final round and that's where Ellis applied full-court pressure to
rattle the Bulldogs. The Lady Tigers went on a 9-0 run to start the
final frame and took a two-point lead. However, with Kierra Arnold
slowing down the pace in order to get the girls offense back on track,
she made a key pass to Gyles under the basket for the game tying
basket. Samantha was then fouled on the next possesion and made the
front end of a one-and-one to give the Bulldogs a 29-28 lead which
they held onto only after a flurry of shots by the Lady Tigers of
Ellis. Gyles totaled 12 points on the night with Kelsey Brooks
adding 11. The most impressive performances though came from Rhumesia
Brooks grabbing 28 rebounds and the controlled play from point guard
Kierra Arnold. The team resumes play at Evangel Heights on Friday.

Lil' Bulldogs Raise Their JV Record to 5-2

2011-01-27T06:32:00.000-08:00

Kaylyn Glenn scored 8 points while Olivia Lawson chipped in 7 to lead
the TNA JV girls basketball team to 20-16 victory over Ellis
yesterday. The win marked the 5th of the season for the JV team. The
Lil' Bulldogs will resume play on Friday at Evangel Heights with first
place in the JV division on the line.

TCCL Win Streak Reaches 62 Games!

2011-01-27T06:31:00.000-08:00

The Lady Bulldogs consecutive win streak in the Tri-County Christian
League has reached 62 games after a convincing victory over league
opponent WPSD. The Neighborhood Academy used a suffocating defense to
jump out to a 23-0 first quarter lead and cruise to their 62nd
consecutive league win. The win breaks the record of 61 previously
held by Greater Works Academy. Samantha Gyles led the way with 20
points while Olivia Lawson and Rhumesia Brooks had 15 and 20 rebounds
respectively. The win was the 14th of the season for the Lady
Bulldogs and upped their league record to 8-0. The Lady Bulldogs
resume league play on Friday night against Evangel Heights.

JV's Roll Over WPSD

2011-01-27T06:29:00.000-08:00

The girls Junior Varsity Basketball team defeated league foe WPSD by a
score of 35-6 upping their league record to 3-1 and overall record to
4-2. The team was led by Olivia Lawson's 10 points and Zaire Nowlin
contributed 6 points of her own.

Girls volleyball officially accepted into the WPIAL

2011-01-25T06:28:00.000-08:00

After three seasons of competing in the Tri-County Christian League,
The Neighborhood Academy girls volleyball team will begin competition
in the WPIAL during the fall season of 2011. The Lady Bulldogs will
compete in Section 2 of the A classification of the district. Section
2 is comprised of Brentwood, North Catholic, Serra Catholic,
Seton-LaSalle, Sto-Rox and Vincentian. Coach Shpiez and Athletic
Director Gary Shawley are very excited about the move and what it
means to the athletic program. "We will be able to expose our
student-athletes to a higher level of competition as well as give them
the opportunity to compete for section championships and district
playoffs in the near future." The move to the WPIAL is just one of
the many moves expected to be made to improve the culture of athletics
at TNA over the next few years.

Langley takes down sluggish TNA team

2011-01-25T06:27:00.000-08:00

The Lady Bulldogs stormed out of the gate to a 5-0 lead in the first
minute of the game, but were outscored the rest of the first quarter
by a score of 17-2. The girls couldn't get going all night and
trailed Langley 22-10 at the half. After making some halftime
adjustments, the Lady Bulldogs defense tightened up and held the
Mustangs to only 5 points in the third quarter and cut the lead to
eight. However, in the fourth quarter, the ladies went 4 of 15 from
the free throw line and couldn't buy a basket ultimately leading to
their defeat against Langley by a score of 37-26. Samantha Gyles led
the way with 19 points. The girls will resume play on Monday at
Christian Fellowship in a make-up game that was scheduled for Friday.

Lady Bulldogs Dispose of Seeds of Faith Quickly!

2011-01-19T12:05:00.000-08:00

It didn't take long for the Lady Bulldogs to wrap up their thirteenth
victory of the season against Seeds of Faith from Indiana, PA
yesterday afternoon. TNA jumped out to a 29 to 3 first quarter lead
and cruised through the rest of the game with relative ease. Samantha
Gyles led Lady Bulldogs in scoring by dropping 28 on the Eagles with
22 of her points coming in the first quarter. Olivia Lawson checked
in and added 12 points of her own to help the team up their record to
13-5 overall and 7-0 in league play. The team will play Langley at
WPSD tomorrow due to rain in the gymnasium.

And Then There Was One!

2011-01-14T08:24:00.000-08:00

The Lady Bulldogs entered the night tied atop the TCCL standings with
the Lady Crusaders of Aquinas Academy at 5-0. There had been mention
from other teams in the TCCL that this could be the team that knocks
TNA from its lofty perch atop the TCCL. Although there is still a
long way to go, the Lady Bulldogs quieted their critics for now by
disposing of Aquinas 52-31. The girls controlled the game from the tip
opening up a quick 7-0 lead en route to a 15-3 first quarter lead.
With the Lady Crusaders visibly rattled, TNA dismantled their
opponents with precision passing leading to several easy baskets. The
Neighborhood lead grew to twenty points by the end of the first half
(33-13). TNA opened up the third quarter with an 8-2 run to finish
off the highly touted team from Aquinas giving the Lady Bulldogs sole
possession of first place. Samantha Gyles led the way as she has all
season with 17 points with Kelsey Brooks adding 12 points of her own.
Coach Shawley was also pleased with the performance of Olivia Lawson
who has struggled all season, but has been showing signs of growth
over the past two games. Coach Shawley stated, "If she continues to
work hard, she will definitely be a major piece of the puzzle as we
seek our fourth championship." Coach Porter also sung the praises of
the team's subs who also played an excellent game. In addition to the
win, two more milestones were achieved on this night as both Rhumesia
Brooks and Samantha Gyles both grabbed their 1000th career rebound.
The Lady Bulldogs will resume play on Tuesday at home against Seeds of
Faith.

Gyles breaks two records and Coach Shawley picks up career win 100 as Lady Bulldogs roll over Champion Christian

2011-01-10T06:45:00.000-08:00

A day after giving WPIAL foe Charleroi all they could handle, the Lady
Bulldogs traveled to Donegal to face TCCL opponent Champion Christian.
The upstart team from Champion jumped out to a three to nothing lead
as the Lady Bulldogs struggled to get their offense going. However,
TNA still managed to lead Champion 7-3 after the first period.
During the first period, Samantha Gyles became the school's All-time
scoring leader surpassing Angela Byrd who held the record for four
years. The Lady Bulldogs slogged their way to a twenty point
half-time lead (24-4). TNA exploded for 26 points in the third quarter
where Samantha Gyles also broke Mike Holmes single game scoring mark
(40) by scoring 43 points. Rhumesia Brooks added ten points and 24
rebounds while Kelsey Brooks chipped in 10 points of her own. The
victory over Champion not only kept the Lady Bulldogs undefeated in
league play (10-5, 5-0), but it also marked Coach Shawley's 100th
career high school basketball victory. The Lady Bulldogs play at home
against City League foe Langley on Wednesday (6 PM) before they take
on Aquinas for sole possession of first place in the TCCL on Thursday
(5 PM).

Girls give highly touted Charleroi a battle.

2011-01-07T06:09:00.001-08:00

Earlier this season, the Lady Bulldogs were drubbed by the Lady
Cougars from Charleroi by 45 points in the Charleroi Tip-Off
tournament. Since that game, Charleroi has won 13 consecutive
contests and earned a #2 ranking in the WPIAL AA Classification and a
#5 ranking by the PIAA. Knowing that information it was easy to see
how the night could be very long for the Lady Bulldogs. Not on this
night! The girls started out quickly breaking the Charleroi press and
scoring a couple of quick baskets. At the end of the first quarter,
TNA trailed 11-6. Olivia Lawson sparked the girls' offense in the
second quarter after she filled in for Samantha Gyles who got into
some early foul trouble. Olivia responded with two quick baskets.
Three consecutive turnovers at the end of the half led to 6 points for
the Lady Cougars of Charleroi and a 12 point halftime lead. The Lady
Bulldogs started the second half slowly allowing the visitors to rattle
off the first 5 points of the third frame. After a quick time-out and
a few adjustments by the coaching staff, the girls went on a 10-0 run
to cut the lead to seven going into the fourth quarter. The Lady
Cougars caught fire in the final frame and wore down the Lady Bulldogs
for a 54-40 victory. Although the team lost, the coaches and girls
are proud of the accomplishment of playing the highly ranked Cougars
from Charleroi tough. The girls' record is 9 and 5 overall (4-0 in the
TCCL). The girls resume play today at Champion Christian with
Samantha Gyles needing only four point to break the All-time school
scoring record and Coach Shawley looking for his 100th career victory.

Lady Bulldogs Sweep a Double-Header Against League Foe First Baptist

2011-01-05T06:36:00.000-08:00

The Girls JV Basketball team jumped out to a 22-2 halftime lead as the
lil' Lady Bulldogs earned their third victory of the season. The team
was led by Kaylyn Glenn's 12 points. Briana Arnold showed great
courage on defense stealing the ball from the Lady Eagles of First
Baptist 15 times. Daaja Jennings also chipped in by scoring 4 points.
These two baskets were the first of her career as a Lady Bulldog.

The Neighborhood Academy girls along with Aquinas Academy and First
Baptist entered the night tied atop the T.C.C.L.at 3-0. By the
evening's end it was made clear that the Lady Bulldogs would remain
atop those standings. The girls sputtered out of the gate and trailed
the host First Baptist Eagles 9-8 at the end of the first period. The
coaches assured the girls they were in for a fight on this night and
asked them to respond by running the offense efficiently and using
their strength to subdue the Lady Eagles. The Ladies dominated the
second quarter by outscoring First Baptist 24 to 1 to take a 32-10
halftime lead. The Lady Eagles came out of the locker room scoring
the first 4 points of the second half, but The Neighborhood Academy
then rattled off the next 12 points to put the Lady Eagles away by a
final score of 65-24. Samantha Gyles led the way with 27 points and
moved closer to breaking the schools All-Time scoring record (she
needs 14 more points). Kelsey Brooks chipped in 14 while Rhumesia
Brooks added ten points to the team total. The Lady Bulldogs resume play
on Thursday night at home against undefeated and WPIAL AA 3rd ranked
Charleroi before they play Aquinas Academy next Thursday for sole
possession of first place in the T.C.C.L.