Roncalli Senior Sara Rosko is South Indy Connect’s Athlete of the Month. The guard averaged 8.4 points, 2.2 assists, and 1.8 steals per game as a junior, and is one of only two seniors on the roster for the Royals’ season-opener at home against Columbus East Nov. 12.
By MIKE BEAS
As a senior, Roncalli girls basketball player Sara Rosko realizes any list of expectations has become a tad bit longer.
Not only is the versatile 5’4’’ guard unsurprised, she’s undeterred.
Rosko, who averaged 8.4 points, 2.2 assists and 1.8 steals per game as a junior, is one of only two 12th-graders on coach Jason Sims’ roster entering the Royals’ season-opener at home against Columbus East on Nov. 12.
Roncalli is coming off a 13-9 campaign that ended with a 62-39 sectional loss at Pike in Class 4A play.
The program, down to Class 3A for the first time since the 2012-2013 season and attempting to finish above .500 for the sixth time in the past seven years, anticipates Rosko bumping up her numbers this winter.
Requesting Rosko to dial up her level of effort won’t be necessary.
“The big thing Sara brings to us is energy and passion,” said Sims, who sports a 43-24 record since taking the job prior to the start of the 2021-2022 season. “She leads by example by how hard she practices and plays. She sets the tone in practice every day.
“We are unapologetically aggressive on defense, and she leads that for us,” he added. “Sara is a great 3-point shooter, too.”
Rosko enters this season having scored a total of 551 career points – a sum that includes her converting 76 of her shots from behind the 3-point stripe.
The senior is an excellent student as well, as evidenced by her 4.0 grade-point average.
Rosko did a Q&A with CONNECT:
Q: Do you consider yourself a 1 guard, a 2 guard or a combination of both?
A: I used to play point guard until last year, and in the middle of the season, I switched. I would say I played pretty well that first game, so my coach just kept me there the rest of the season. Now, I enjoy playing the 2, so I consider myself that. But I can play the 1 if I have to.
Q: How much are you looking forward to teaming up with your sister (junior point guard Caitey Rosko) in the Roncalli backcourt?
A: I really enjoy playing with her. We have chemistry because we’ve played basketball together since I was in fourth-grade and she was in third. It’s pretty much all I’ve ever known. Backdoor cuts, for example, Caitie always knows when I’m going to.
Q: In your opinion, what is it that makes Roncalli such a unique place?
A: They just make a really good sense of community. I also sense everyone there has the same unity through faith.
Q: What are your plans after graduating from Roncalli in the spring?
A: I plan to go to Purdue University and study business and engineering. I’ve always had a math mind. Math and science.