JACK ANDERSON

SCHOOL: Beaver Falls

WHO IS HE? A 6-foot-3 junior guard who helped the Tigers win the PIAA Class AA boys' basketball championship.

LAST WEEK: Anderson scored 23 points as Beaver Falls defeated York Catholic, 71-59, in the PIAA Class AA championship at the Giant Center in Hershey, Pa.

FOURTH-QUARTER SURGE: Anderson scored 17 points in the fourth quarter to help the Tigers come back from a seven-point deficit after the third quarter. He was 12 of 14 from the free-throw line in the second half.

"That's what you dream about growing up and playing in the street with your friends. You simulate playing in the state championship," Anderson said. "Having 17 points in the fourth quarter makes it even more special."

Anderson was Beaver Falls' second-leading scorer this season, averaging 14 points a game.

ROLLER-COASTER SEASON: Anderson acknowledges he had an up-and-down season. He scored 18 points or more in 10 games but didn't score in double figures in 12 games.

"I don't think my whole game was up and down, it was just my scoring," Anderson said. "But one of our assistant coaches, Cicero Lassiter, would always tell me that good players don't just score points. If my shots weren't falling, I tried to do something else to help the team out."

"GREAT" GRANDFATHER: Anderson's father didn't play basketball, but Anderson's grandfather, Jack, was as an excellent player at Beaver Falls.

"He graduated in the late 1940s, and I have some yearbooks from when he played," young Jack Anderson said. "According to the yearbooks, he was a very good player. He was a good athlete in basketball and football."

FIRED UP: The town of Beaver Falls had a parade Monday night for the Tigers. Anderson and his teammates rode a fire truck through the heart of town. The night Beaver Falls beat Aliquippa in the PIAA semifinals, the team also rode a fire truck through town.

"I wouldn't say we're celebrities now, but we're a little more popular than we were before," Anderson said. "Every time you go to a restaurant or a store, everyone congratulates you."

THE FUTURE: Anderson has a 3.85 grade point average and wants to play college basketball. Colgate is showing interest.

"With his grades, he can write his ticket to college in a variety of ways," Beaver Falls coach Doug Biega said.

"My college choice doesn't all bank on basketball," Anderson said. "That's a big thing, but I'm also looking at academics. If it comes down to a Division I college or a Division II college that has the academics I want, then I'm definitely going Division II."

But Anderson has one more year at Beaver Falls. Star guard Lance Jeter returns for next season, along with a few other players.

"It's going to be tough, but I don't see any reason why we can't get back to where we were this year," Anderson said.

-- By Mike White

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KELSEY GRUSHECKY

SCHOOL: Yough.

WHO IS SHE? One of the top swimmers in the state.

PAST WEEK: At the PIAA championships at Bucknell University, Grushecky won the 100-yard butterfly in Class AA with a time of 55.45 seconds, breaking the previous state record of 55.56. She also finished third in the 100 freestyle (52.66).

	Selected by the Post-Gazette scholastic sports staff

CAREER: A sophomore, Grushecky already has won three WPIAL gold medals -- the 100 butterfly and 100 freestyle this year, and the 200 freestyle as a freshman. Last year, she was second in the WPIAL and third in the PIAA in the 100 butterfly, and third in the PIAA in the 200 freestyle.

NO HOME POOL: Grushecky has joined the WPIAL elite even though Yough does not have a swimming team, or even a pool. She trains with the Laurel Highlands Regional YMCA team in Scottdale, about 20 minutes from her West Newton home. Her coach, coincidentally, is named Laurel Highlands.

Though considered an independent, Grushecky is eligible to compete in the WPIAL championships provided she matches or tops qualifying times at a sanctioned high school meet. She accompanied the Elizabeth Forward team to two meets and qualified for her two events.

REFINEMENT: Though a successful swimmer, Grushecky is not a complete one.

"I think she definitely has the talent," Highlands said. "There are a lot of things she can do to improve, like her turns and some of her technique. With her, though, it's mostly the little things."

Grushecky said, chuckling: "I'm terrible at the backstroke. If I can improve it, it would help me in the individual medley."

FAMILY ROCKS: The name is familiar, especially to local music devotees. And, yes, she is related to Joe Grushecky, the popular rocker who has performed often with Bruce Spring-steen.

"He's my dad's cousin," Kelsey Grushecky said. "I've seen him on TV and heard him on radio, but I've never actually met [Springsteen]."

FUTURE: Despite being two-plus years away from graduation, Grushecky has definitive plans for college. "I want to go to one of the top Division I schools for swimming," she said. Grushecky is fourth in her class academically and has a cumulative average of 97 percent.

By Rick Shrum