Matt Freed, Post-Gazette Mike Sherry's offensive outbursts has Chartiers Valley off to a 2-0 start in section play. Click photo for larger image.

SCHOOL: Chartiers Valley

WHO IS HE? A 6-foot-1 junior guard on the Chartiers Valley boys' basketball team and one of the top scoring threats in WPIAL Class AAAA.

LAST WEEK: Sherry helped coach Tim McConnell's Colts to a 2-1 record over the past week, but more important, a 2-0 record to begin Class AAAA Section 4 play. He scored 27 points in a non-section loss against Central Catholic, followed that up with a 13-point performance in a section win against Upper St. Clair. In an 82-76 overtime section win Tuesday at Ringgold, Sherry scored half his team's points, pouring in 41 in the key victory.

DRIVEN TO SUCCESS: Before this season, Sherry was admittedly known as primarily a long-rang, spot-up shooter. He still can hit the long jumper with pinpoint accuracy but over the summer took it upon himself to round out his offensive game.

"I did have that reputation, as just a shooter," he said. "Over the summer, I put in a lot of work to become a player who could put the ball on the floor and drive to the basket. Three or four days a week, all I would work on is ballhandling and becoming a player who can drive to the basket better."

THINNING OUT: Looking back on elementary school, Sherry said he was, "A pretty stocky kid who weighed a little bit too much and wasn't thin at all." But the kid who lived in the Keystone Oaks school district until the end of junior high had a transformation.

"I just kind of grew into my body through seventh and eighth grade," he said. "I started to get thinner and was able to move better. That has helped me a lot and allowed me to be the player I am now."

FATHERLY ADVICE: Sherry's father, Shawn, is an assistant coach with the Colts. What has the potential to be an awkward dynamic isn't, largely because Mike Sherry is able to separate his father's two roles.

"At home he's my dad; but on the floor he is a coach and someone along with coach McConnell who is teaching us the game of basketball," he said. "When your dad is someone who is coaching you, the player has to take it upon himself to forget that he is your dad when you are out on the floor. You have to see it as two different relationships and not let what happens on the basketball floor affect what happens at home."

THE FUTURE: Just a junior, Sherry hopes the continued development of his total offensive game will help him get a look from a Division I school.

"It's been a dream of mine to play college basketball at a high level since I was a little kid," he said. "All I can do is keep working hard at that goal."

-- By Colin Dunlap

SCHOOL: New Castle

WHO IS SHE? A 5-foot-11¹/₂ junior and one of the top players in WPIAL Class AAAA basketball.

THE PAST WEEK: Sams had 22 points in a 51-35 victory Monday against Shaler and 26 in a 70-53 victory Friday against North Allegheny.

A LITTLE OF EVERYTHING: Sams averages 19.4 points, 10.2 rebounds, 6 assists and 5 steals and plays a number of positions, including small forward and power forward. She even has played point guard a few times for New Castle (7-0). "She plays both ends of the floor, too. She's a great defender," said New Castle coach Luann Grybowski.

Sams' game has developed greatly in the past two years. She used to be strictly an inside player.

"She has developed a great pull-up jump shot and even a 3-point shot," Grybowski said. "She has become very effective off the dribble."

EARLY PRACTICE: In the fall, Sams sometimes would practice shooting on her own -- before school.

"We have a shooting machine, and she would be in there at 7 in the morning sometimes, trying to get in 300 to 400 shots," Grybowski said.

HUMBLE BEGINNINGS: Sams started playing organized basketball in sixth grade, but she was, in a word, bad. "I couldn't do anything," Sams said with a laugh. "I wanted to be a cheerleader until I decided to play basketball."

Sams worked on her game and developed into more than a serviceable player. She was a starter as a freshman on a New Castle team that won the WPIAL Class AAAA championship.

"If you would've [seen] this kid play when she was younger, you would've said she would never be a player," Grybowski said. "In sixth grade, she was still going off the wrong foot to shoot a layup."

Sams also improved in the classroom and now has a 3.3 grade point average.

"My ninth-grade year I didn't do very well," said Sams. "But I learned fast how important grades are. My mom stayed on me, and I brought up the grades drastically. I was just lazy before."

ALL IN THE FAMILY: Talent runs in Sams' family. Her cousin is Lorri Johnson, New Castle's all-time leading scorer with 2,110 points from 1982-86.

DIVISION I POTENTIAL: Sams is a definite Division I college prospect for next season. Penn State and Miami have already called Grybowski to show their interest.

-- By Mike White