DESTINY AMBROSE

SCHOOL: Bishop Canevin.

WHO IS SHE?: A 5-foot-8 freshman on the girls' basketball team.

THE PAST WEEK: A guard, Ambrose scored 14 points Monday in a 53-49 non-section loss to Pine-Richland and nine Thursday in a 55-29 rout of Carlynton. At 16.2 points per game, she is the top scorer for the Crusaders (10-4, 7-0), who have a two-game lead in Section 3-AA.

TRANSITION GAME: Varsity play has been a revelation for Ambrose, a McKees Rocks resident. She played for a parochial-school team last winter, St. Philip of Crafton.

"This is a lot more work," Ambrose said. "High school games make me more nervous because there are more people watching."

Ambrose started and scored 11 points in a season-opening loss to Class AAAA Franklin Regional She has been in double figures in 13 of 14 games, including highs of 27 and 25 against Chartiers-Houston and Allderdice.

SHOOTING STAR: Though she is one of the Crusaders' tallest players, Ambrose often plays outside in a four-guard offense.

"Destiny is a great offensive rebounder, though," he said. "She'll play some up front."

FUTURE: Destiny Ambrose wants to play college basketball.

-- By Rick Shrum

SCHOOL: Mt. Lebanon

WHO IS HE? A 6-foot-1, 190-pound senior and one of the top defensemen in district hockey.

LAST WEEK: Bartkowski helped Mt. Lebanon win the Meadville Bulldog Invitational and was named to the all-tournament team. Mt. Lebanon allowed only four goals in five games in the tournament -- and Bartkowski was one of the main reasons.

"We have some players who also play amateur hockey, so we were without five of our top six forwards," said Mt. Lebanon coach Paul Taibi. "In the semifinals and finals, Matt probably played probably 87 minutes out of 90. You don't see that too often."

DEFENSIVE-MINDED: Mt. Lebanon is 33-1-3 overall and 13-0 in PIHL play. The Blue Devils have allowed 12 goals in the PIHL games. Mt. Lebanon also has a high-scoring offense, with 96 goals in PIHL games.

"He's definitely one of the main reasons we haven't given up many goals," Taibi said. "I think what makes him exceptionally good is his balance is unbelievable. Players try to hit him, and they end up falling down. Someone said to me one time, 'It's like trying to hit a Zamboni.' "

MUSICAL DEFENSEMAN: Bartkowski used to play the cello in Mt. Lebanon's orchestra. "After 10th grade, I gave that up," Bartkowski said. "It was just getting to be too much with all the hockey."

"How about that?" Taibi said. "You have a kid who plays the cello, just smashing people all over the ice."

THE OTHER STUFF: Bartkowski is an excellent student with a 4.0 grade point average. He would like possibly to major in engineering in college, but has not decided on a school.

-- By Mike White