Athletes of the week, chosen by the Post-Gazette high school sports staff.

SCHOOL: Mt. Lebanon

WHO IS HE? A 6-foot-3, 195-pound senior guard and one of the top players in WPIAL boys' basketball.

THE PAST WEEK: Kestler scored 29 points in a 56-54 victory Thursday against Chartiers Valley. He had 22 in a 48-46 loss Monday to North Allegheny.

SEASON: Kestler is averaging 22.6 points a game for the Blue Devils, who are the Post-Gazette's No. 2-ranked WPIAL Class AAAA team.

MORE THAN A SHOOTER: After transferring from Seton-LaSalle to Mt. Lebanon before his sophomore year, Kestler earned a spot in Mt. Lebanon's starting lineup. He had a successful sophomore season, mainly because of his shooting ability. But his game has developed greatly since then. He has added about 25 pounds since his sophomore year.

"I guess I just became more confident in my abilities and I worked hard in trying to round out my game," Kestler said. "Back then, I didn't do as much as I do now."

SON OF A COACH: Kestler's father, Hal, used to be Mt. Lebanon's coach, but gave up the job after the 2000-01 season. Hal coached his son only in AAU basketball. Although Geoff credits his father with teaching him "everything" about basketball, Geoff is not sorry his dad gave up the Mt. Lebanon job.

"I'm more comfortable to say whatever I want around him," Geoff said. "But I don't think it would be good for the team, the players and other parents if he was coaching me. I think it would seem like he was making me the main part of the team."

Funny thing is, Kestler is the main part of the Mt. Lebanon team, scoring 20 points or more in seven of 10 games.

FAB FIVE: Kestler played for the Pittsburgh JOTS AAU team. Five seniors on that team are headed to Division I colleges, including four from the WPIAL. Kestler, who has a 3.9 grade point average, has committed to Princeton. Yough's Ben McCauley has signed with North Carolina State, Plum's Mike McKee with Kent State and Chartiers Valley's Steve Profeta with St. Francis, Pa. Brandon Stores, who attended George Jr. Republic last year and now attends school in Florida, also played for the JOTS and recently committed to New Mexico State.

"Princeton plays my style of basketball," Kestler said.

BASKETBALL FAMILY: Kestler's older sister, Katie, is a former Mt. Lebanon star who now plays at Allegheny.

WHAT'S IN A NAME? Kestler's first name is pronounced "Jeff," but his parents decided against the conventional spelling. "I've been asked many times why it's spelled that way," Kestler said with a laugh. "I have no idea. I've asked my parents. My mom always says my dad wanted it that way."

-- By Mike White

SCHOOL: Seton-LaSalle

WHO IS SHE? A 5-foot-6 guard for the girls' basketball team.

THE PAST WEEK: A senior, Williams scored 15 points in an 81-34 win against Chartiers-Houston, poured in 18 more in a 76-28 victory against South Fayette, scored 20 Tuesday in a 52-23 victory against George Washington (W.Va.) and had 15 last night in the Upper St. Clair tournament against the host Panthers.

TOUGH BREAK: Williams, an Upper St. Clair resident, dived for a loose ball in a Rebels' summer league game in July and her collarbone was broken. She needed surgery and a vigorous rehabilitation program after the injury, but she bounced back nicely and was ready for the beginning of the season. The injury, though, definitely made Seton-LaSalle coach Luke Ruppel hold his breath, especially because he didn't see it happen and had to endure a secondhand account.

"I was away on vacation when it happened and I got a phone call saying that Niki was hurt pretty bad," he said. "I was concerned, I was really concerned. That isn't the type of call that you like to get and it definitely wasn't the news I was looking for, but she worked hard to get back and that says a lot about her. She knew we were going to rely on her as a senior leader this season and she worked hard to come back from the collarbone injury."

STREAKING: The Rebels had won five of their previous six games heading into last night's contest with Upper St. Clair and Williams was a big part of why Seton-LaSalle has climbed to No. 5 in the Post-Gazette Class AA poll.

"Her leadership has been huge," Ruppel said. "We have played a pretty tough non-section schedule and we always like to do that. Niki really has played well, especially in the game against George Washington (W.Va.), who was the ninth-ranked team in West Virginia. Niki's been a big, big part as to why we're playing well right now."

FUTURE: Williams accepted a scholarship from Hofstra, a Division I school on Long Island, N.Y. She chose Hofstra after mulling scholarship offers from Akron, Manhattan, Niagara and North Carolina-Greensboro.

"I think she's going to be a terrific college player," Ruppel said. "She can do a lot of different things and I know people say this about a lot of players, but, 'She just plays so hard.' Like I said, I know that might be overused, but in her case, it really is the truth and playing hard always seems to lead to very good results."

-- By Colin Dunlap