Evanston Athletic Spotlight: Mason Rocca

By Paul Harris-Hertel

It was only during the playing of the national anthems that Mason Rocca, the former ETHS basketball star playing for Italy in the World Basketball Championships, felt strange.

"When I realized they weren't playing ‘The Star Spangled Banner' for me and my teammates, that's the only time I realized who we were playing," Rocca said of the game two weeks ago against the United States. "After that it was just another game."

The Italian team lost that game, 94-85, but gave the U.S. team its toughest test of the tournament, leading a team composed of NBA stars by seven points in the second half. Despite that loss, Italy moved on to the medal round, where it was eliminated by Lithuania. Rocca hopes that won't be the end of his time with the Italian National Team, as he will try out for the squad that will play in the European Championships next year.

"The [national team] has new tryouts every year, and Italy has to finish in the top 3 at the European Championships to make the 2008 Olympics," he explained. "I hope to play on the Olympic Team if we make it there."

Rocca has lived and played professionally in Italy for the past five years, and has spent the last two in Naples, playing in the Italian A League. In 2002, he became a naturalized Italian.

His career began, however, in the United States, where he played college ball at Princeton after four years starring for ETHS. He was a three-year varsity starter in high school, and led the Wildkits to a conference championship in 1996, his senior year. Rocca was named to the All-State Team by the Chicago Sun Times and was named an All-State Special Mention selection by the Chicago Tribune. But it was the lessons he learned on the basketball court more than his exploits on it that acted as stepping stones for the rest of his career.

"I learned the principles of hard work, never giving up, and of never backing down from anyone, no matter how much more talented they are than you," Rocca said. He excelled in soccer and baseball at ETHS as well. In fact, he was an All-State defender in soccer and was recruited by some colleges.

"[Even though] I was recruited a little bit in other sports, basketball was always the sport I thought about playing in college," said Rocca. "The other sports were never a consideration."

Despite a college career in which he was hampered by various injuries, the 6-9 forward was a key member of two NCAA tournament participants and two teams that made the NIT. His coach during his years at Princeton was current Northwestern coach Bill Carmody, of whom he spoke very highly.

"Coach Carmody and his staff really knew basketball inside and out, and they knew the little things that helped us overcome not having as much talent as other teams," Rocca said.

"[Personally], I was really pushed and challenged to become a better player," he continued. "My four years at Princeton helped me become the player I am today, and I wouldn't be able to play professionally without that experience."

In addition to being a top athlete, Rocca also excelled academically. In high school he was a Tribune All-State scholar-athlete and a National Merit Scholar, and he received an engineering degree from Princeton. His accomplishments in the classroom, in his mind, were just as big as his accomplishments on the court.

"I've always placed equal importance on athletics and academics," he said. "With my injury problems I knew I needed to be prepared with a backup plan. I can't play basketball forever."

Wildkits Football Team Falls in Season Opener

By Paul Harris-Hertel

The ETHS football team's 2006 season got off to an inauspicious start Saturday, August 26, as the Wildkits lost 16-0 at home to Hinsdale Central, ranked in the Top 25 by both the Chicago Tribune and Sun Times.

After a first half in which the only scoring came on a 27-yard field goal by Sean Lacy, the Red Devils scored two second-half touchdowns, first on a run by Mike Imke and then on a pass from quarterback Zach Leathers to Steve Morris.

One of the few bright spots for the Kits was running back Michael Bolden.  The Northwestern recruit rushed for 77 yards on 23 carries and made a leaping catch for a first down in the first half after lining up at receiver.  

But penalties and turnovers were the big problem for Evanston.  The Wildkits committed seven penalties and two first-half turnovers, the latter of which led to Hinsdale Central's first points.

The first turnover came when John Melbourne picked off Evanston quarterback Ryan Roveda's pass at the Central 35.  But the Red Devils couldn't take advantage, thanks to an illegal procedure penalty and a sack by Evanston linebacker Dan Kruger.

But with 2:37 left in the first half, a high snap on an Evanston punt attempt was recovered by Hinsdale Central at the Wildkits eight.  However, the Kits defense held strong and forced the Red Devils to settle for a field goal with just over a minute remaining.

Central broke the game open in the fourth quarter.  The Wildkits tried to get something going with a fake punt on fourth and eight from their own 40, but Brian Murphy landed out of bounds after catching the pass.  On the second play after taking over on downs, Imke ran for 25 yards to set up a first and goal, and punched it in two plays later from seven yards out.

 Evanston's third turnover of the game led to Central's final score.  Following the Red Devils first touchdown, Roveda completed a pass to Murphy at the Central 43, but Murphy fumbled and the Red Devils recovered.  Eleven plays later, Leathers hit running back Morris with a 16-yard scoring strike, and Lacy added the extra point to complete the scoring.

Final Days of Summer.

Before the beach closed, these kids got in one last play: Elan Shohet Zabin, Leila Abraham, Jeffrey Abraham, Joshua Abraham, Nolan Kim, James Long, Max Jaffee, Scott Mendelson, Stuart Hayes, Simon Levy, Joey Parker, Max Davies, Josh Seef, Carly McCrory, William McCrory and Brian Parker.

ETHS Scoreboard

Football
8/26- Hinsdale Central 16, Evanston 0
9/1- Evanston 27, Lane Tech 20

Girls Swimming
8/31- Evanston 104, Loyola 82
Boys Soccer
8/25- Evanston 0, Libertyville 0
8/26- Evanston 3, Lincoln-Way East 0
Goals: Pelsoci, Corona, Sippel
8/29- Wheaton Warrenville South 4, Evanston 0
8/30- Lake Zurich 5, Evanston 1
  Evanston goal: Pelsoci
8/31- Geneva 3, Evanston 1
9/2- Evanston 1, Libertyville 0
    Goal: Keller

Girls Tennis
8/22- Evanston 5, Oak Park 3
  Evanston winners:
Larson (E) d. Kempster 6-3, 6-1
  Moore/O'Leary (E) d. Frisch/McKune 6-3, 7-6
  Doyle/Nelson (E) d. Markowitz/Munoz 6-3, 7-6
  Smith/Hoopingarner (E) d. Hedlund/Ehrie 6-1, 6-0
  Berman/Buoniauto (E) d. Lucchese/Gardner 6-2, 6-4

8/26- New Trier Tournament
  Lyons 4, Evanston 1
    Evanston winner:
    Hohman/Smith (E) d. Malone/Baldassare 6-1, 6-0
Glenbrook North 4, Evanston 1
    Evanston winner:
    Larson (E) d. Kolman 6-2, 6-4
8/30- Evanston 6, Niles North 1
  Evanston winners:
  Larson (E) d. Dabiza 3-6, 6-4, 6-3
  Hohman (E) d. Desai 6-1, 5-7, 7-6
  Schnoll (E) d. Spiegal 6-1, 7-6
  Moore/O'Leary (E) d. Matigan/ Caplan 6-4, 7-6
  Doyle/Nelson (E) d. Butbol/Kha- nam 6-2, 6-3
  Smith/Hoopingarner (E) d. Sterk/ Prosnitz 6-0, 6-1
8/31- Loyola 5, Evanston 2
  Evanston winners:
  Larson (E) d. Montgomery 6-4, 6-2
  Berman/Buoniauto (E) d. Hughes/ Hendricks 2-6, 6-2, 7-5

Boys Golf
8/23- Evanston 134, Maine East 224
  Evanston Scores: Peters 31, Sung 33, O'Sullivan 33, Kohnken 37
8/24- Highland Park 132, Evanston 137
  Evanston Scores: Wadden 34, Mershon 34, Strzalka 34, Sung 35, Peters 35, O'Sullivan 35
8/29- Glenbrook South 156, Evanston 163
  Evanston Scores: Wadden 40, Peters 40, Kohnken 41, Bielawski 42, Strzalka 42, Sung 42

Girls Volleyball
8/29- Evanston d. Northside Prep  25-23, 25-19