When Garrison Forest athletic director Kim Chorosiewski first tried to convince her friend, Sheila Frost Anderson, to coach the Grizzlies' basketball team, Anderson declined.
After a stellar playing career at Tennessee, three college assistant-coaching jobs and three turns with professional teams, Anderson thought she was finished with basketball.
Living in Atlanta, working for Kraft Foods and newly married, she was moving in a different direction - until she was asked to coach a team at her church.
"I got the itch to get back into coaching the church team," said the 6-foot-4 Anderson, who went to four Final Fours and won two NCAA championships while playing at Tennessee from 1985 to 1989.
After that, Anderson called Chorosiewski back. In July, she signed on as head basketball coach and assistant athletic director at Garrison Forest.
"She brings so much, especially from the college and professional levels," said Chorosiewski, "and she's very good at coaching kids. She has a wonderful demeanor with the kids. She works them hard and they see what it means to be a good team."
Anderson's arrival coincided with the opening of the new Searle Athletic Center, which includes three full-sized basketball courts - two steps toward building a stronger program at the Owings Mills private school.
The Grizzlies, who will open their season on Monday, haven't had much recent success, finishing 7-10 in the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland C Conference last season, so Anderson said she first taking a psychological tack.
"It doesn't take a miracle to turn a team around. It takes an attitude," said Anderson.
"They've not been very good and everybody's told them that, so they have it in their heads that they're not very good. My project right now is to get that out of their heads."
Reds roll in squash
Roland Park's squash team improved to 4-0 with Tuesday's 7-2 victory over neighborhood rival Bryn Mawr.
The Reds, who also have wins over Hill School (Pa.), Lawrenceville Academy (N.J.) and National Capitol (D.C.), lost only one match last season.
In Tuesday's matches, Reds victories came from Kendall Anders over Ashley Campbell, Erin Lacy over Sarah Hawkins, Alexis Paskert over Libbey Brown, Amanda Ortel over Drayden Peters, Betsy Griffin over Mandy Mahle, Ginny Wich over Tara Rubenstein and Alli Lacy over Lindsay Moore.
For Bryn Mawr, Carrie Himmelrich defeated Lawrie Peck and Sarah Gilarsky defeated Laura Brent.
The Mawrtians, who will face the Reds again on Jan. 14, dropped to 2-1 after beating St. Andrew's (Del.) and Madeira (Va.)
Sun staff writer Lem Satterfield contributed to this article.
Correction:
Second-team All-Metro lineman Jonathan Sykes of Edmondson was incorrectly listed in Monday's All-Metro section.