ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, September 19, 1996 TAG: 9609190021
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV5 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: SHAWSVILLE
SOURCE: ANGIE WATTS STAFF WRITER
They line up side-by-side for Shawsville High School on the basketball court, play across from one another on the volleyball court, and run most of the same events in track competitions.
For many teen-age sisters this would translate into never-ending fights. But Mandi and Megan Forester wouldn't have it any other way.
"My sister and I are really close," said Mandi, a senior at Shawsville. "She's like my best friend. Megan's kind of goofy sometimes ... but we do almost everything together."
Entering their second year as starters for coach Tracy Poff on the Shawsville girl's varsity basketball team, Mandi serves as the small forward and Megan, a sophomore, lines up as power forward. At 5-foot-10, Megan stands 6 inches taller than her older sister. But Mandi still assumes the traditional "big-sister" role, Megan said.
"She always sticks up for me," Megan said. "If I'm injured, she's the first one out there. And if someone wants to pick a fight with me on the court, she's there before I am."
But showing a smile, Megan remembers it hasn't always been that way.
"She used to be the one to pick on me all the time. I guess that was her job," Megan said. "But now I'm so much bigger than she is I don't have to worry about it anymore."
Megan started for the Shawnees as a freshman. She said she'll never forget her first game on the varsity team against Bland High.
"I was scared to death - very, very intimidated," Megan said. "Everyone else was bigger than me. I was just hoping all the work I had done in the off-season would pay off."
Since then, Megan has grown. She describes herself as "taller, bigger and stronger" since her freshman season.
Mandi, on the other hand, is still among the shortest girls on the team. Still, she plays inside at forward instead of at guard where girls her size are more often posted. Poff, in his sixth year as Shawnees coach, moved Mandi up to the varsity team midway through her sophomore season.
"I want to shoot the ball more and try to get it inside more often this year, even though a lot of the girls I play against are my sister's size," Mandi said. "I try not to focus on being small. I just feel like I'm right up there with everyone else."
A lack of size doesn't seem to handicap Mandi or the team.
"We may not have a lot of height, but we've got speed," Megan said.
Off to a 4-2 start this season, the Shawnees are looking forward to starting play in the Three Rivers District Oct. 1. Shawsville finished third in the district last season, falling just short of advancing to the regional tournament. The team made its last trip to regionals in 1993.
"We can't dwell on the past," Megan said. "We were together as a team last year, but with only losing two seniors, most of us have been together longer now."
"Our goal is to make it as far as we can, taking it one game at a time," Mandi added.
Megan averaged 13.9 points and 8.8 rebounds per game as a freshman. She said her main concern is not so much individual statistics as helping the team improve.
She already has accomplished one goal she this season by surpassing 100 points in scoring. However, she said if the Shawnees aren't winning, nothing else matters.
"I don't care if I score anything or everything," Megan said, "I just want to win."
LENGTH: Medium: 71 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: GENE DALTON/Staff Sisters Mandi (50) and Meganby CNBForester (52) are as at home on the court as they are at the house.