MATT IONADI

Penn Hills.

A 6-foot-2, 185-pound senior on the Indians' boys' basketball team.

Penn Hills beat Pine-Richland, 65-59, in the first round of the WPIAL Class AAAA playoffs Monday as Ionadi scored 25 points and made four free throws in the final 1:08.

Ionadi scored his 1,000th career point last month and has 1,098 for his career. He has been on the varsity since his freshman year and a starter since his sophomore season.

"He's probably one of the most productive players in Penn Hills history," said Penn Hills coach Jim Rocco.

Penn Hills features 6-7 senior forward Akida McLain, who already has signed with Boston College. Many opponents pay close attention to McLain, but they can't ignore Ionadi.

"Teams are always going to key on Akida," Ionadi said. "That kind of opens things up for me sometimes. Akida is the most unselfish player I've played with in all of my four years here."

When asked about his unselfishness, Ionadi laughed and said, "I'm never shy to put it up."

Ionadi was 10 years old the last time he played football. But he went out for Penn Hills' football team this past season and ended up being the starting tight end.

"I wanted to get bigger and stronger and I think it helped," Ionadi said. "I stayed in shape, and it made me stronger. It just helped me in all kinds of ways."One day a week, Ionadi works for Pasquale's Pizza and Pasta in Penn Hills. He works more in the off-season. His job is to make pizzas, actually tossing the dough into the air. "My family has always owned restaurants, and we're big into Italian food," Ionadi said. "I just always knew how to cook and make food."

Ionadi is unsure of a college choice, but Pitt-Johnstown, Mount Union, Pitt-Greensburg and IUP are showing interest.

EMILY RYBAK

Beaver.

A 5-foot-4 junior point guard on the girls' basketball team.

Rybak scored 20 points Monday as the Bobcats defeated Hampton, 47-46, in the first round of the WPIAL Class AAA playoffs. She also assisted on Liz Neeley's winning basket with four seconds remaining.

Rybak is averaging 18.5 points, 3.6 assists, 2.3 steals and 2.6 rebounds per game. She has converted 47 percent of her field-goal attempts and 41 percent of her 3-pointers (39 of 95).

This is Rybak's third season as a starter, and she is Beaver's all-time leader with 1,114 points. Rybak eclipsed the previous record of 1,093 by Heather Shaw (class of 1997) in the regular-season finale against Monaca.

Being a full-time point guard is a new experience for Rybak. She played that position a few times her first two varsity seasons, but was primarily a shooting guard. Rybak has played there a lot with her AAU team, the Pa. Hoop Stars. "Making the transition wasn't as difficult as I first thought," she said. "I'm still a work in progress, but this is definitely a step forward for me. I like to have the opportunity to run the offense."

Beaver had two losing seasons before Susan Robinson Fruchtl became coach in 2000, then two more afterward. But building around youth, she has led the Bobcats to the playoffs the past two seasons. One of those youngsters was Rybak, an eighth-grader when Fruchtl arrived. "I coached the varsity and the eighth-graders just that year, to get the young kids off on the right foot," she said. "Emily showed a lot of energy and a willingness to learn."

Fruchtl knows college basketball. She is the No. 2 scorer in Penn State history with 2,253 points, and assistant Angie Potthoff is fifth with 1,725. Fruchtl insists that Rybak, despite being 5-4, could play for a Division I team. "Her speed is excellent. You see her, you think, 'If she only had a couple more inches.' But if you look at major-college rosters, you'll see at least one player her size."

Rybak has a 4.0 grade point average and wants to pursue a medical career. "Before sports, I was a bookworm," she said. "School is No. 1 with me still."