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Thursday, February 22, 2001

By Mike White and Paul Zeise, Post-Gazette Sports Writers

SCHOOL: Ambridge.

WHO ARE THEY? Sisters on Ambridge's successful girls' basketball team. Jodi is a senior guard, Kelly a sophomore guard.

SEASON: Jodi averages 15.8 points a game, Kelly 12.1. They are two reasons Ambridge is having one of the best seasons in school history. The Bridgers are 24-1 and have advanced to the WPIAL Class AAAA quarterfinals.

CAREERS: Jodi has been a starter since her freshman year, has more than 1,500 career points and is the third leading scorer in Ambridge history. Kelly also has been a starter since her freshman year.

"They've meant a lot to our success," Ambridge Coach Tom Cvitkovic said. "We had some good teams in the late 1980s and early '90s and then we went a few years with just being normal. Then Jodi came in and things took off. This whole group of players have been winners since fifth and sixth grade."

Jodi, left, and Kelly Calderone: Sisters average nearly 28 ppg. (Lake Fong, Post-Gazette)

DIFFERENT ROLES: The Calderones talents are different. "Kelly's a good, all around player. She can handle the ball, pass and play defense," Cvitkovic said. "Jodi's a really good shooter and can play good defense. I think Jodi knows Kelly is a heckuva good player and might end up being the better player. I think she's let Kelly do more for us this year."

SISTER ACT: The Calderones never played on the same team until last year when Kelly was a freshman and Jodi a junior.

"It's a lot of fun playing with her. But sometimes it's not," Kelly said with a laugh. "If I'm doing something wrong, she certainly corrects me."

The Calderones, at times, play a mean game of one-on-one.

"Sometimes we have to quit because we start to fight," Kelly said.

Jodi said: "She thinks she can beat me, but she's crazy. I think she's still afraid of me because I'm older."

The Calderones are close and are often together away from basketball and home. Their boyfriends are brothers.

MOVING UP: Ambridge was a Class AAA playoff team last year but moved up to Class AAAA this season.

"I think we all kind of doubted ourselves moving up," Jodi said. "But after we started winning some games, we kind of said, 'Hey, we can do this.' We showed a lot of people we were better than they thought. We showed ourselves, too."

THE FUTURE: Kelly still has two more seasons at Ambridge. Jodi plans to attend Edinboro University in the fall but might not play basketball. Both are honors students at Ambridge.

-- By Mike White

SCHOOL: Chartiers Valley

WHO IS HE? A 5-foot-10 senior guard for the boys' basketball team.

THIS WEEK: MacKenzie scored 24 points, including the final eight, in leading the Colts to a 68-66 come-from-behind victory against Penn Hills Tuesday in the first round of the WPIAL Class AAAA playoffs. The Colts trailed, 62-56, with 1:30 left in the game, but MacKenzie made consecutive three-pointers to tie the score and then scored the winning basket on a layup with five seconds left.

"He's a gutty player like that and he came through for us when we needed him most," Chartiers Valley Coach Tim McConnell said. "But what doesn't make the box scores is that he is our best defensive player and is asked to shut down our opponent's big scorer almost every night."

SEASON: MacKenzie is a team captain and second on the Colts in scoring, averaging 12.5 points per game. He leads the team in assists (5 per game), steals (3) and three-point field goals.

CAREER: A three-year starter for the Colts, MacKenzie has scored close to 800 career points and has averaged more than eight points per game all three seasons.

SECOND SPORT: While he is a good basketball player, MacKenzie's best sport is soccer. A four-year starter for the Colts' soccer team, he has 49 career goals and 48 assists. He played midfielder this past season and had 22 goals and 25 assists and was named all-state by the Pennsylvania Soccer Coaches Association for a second time. He has accepted a soccer scholarship to Duquesne University.

GOOD GENES: MacKenzie comes by his athletic ability honestly. His father, Dave, was a standout hockey and soccer player at Colgate University and a star for the defunct Pittsburgh Spirit of the Major Indoor Soccer League.

BLUE COLLAR: Although MacKenzie has plenty of soccer skills, he has worked hard at becoming a solid basketball player. He shoots the ball with an unconventional release, but he has learned to get his shot off quickly.

"Derek isn't a great basketball player in the traditional sense," McConnell said. "But what he is, is the epitome of heart, hustle and desire. He is a warrior in every sense of the word, a guy you'd love to have five of out on the court."

-- By Paul Zeise