UNI BASKETBALL HAS always needed more height. Not many Uni athletes have been tall enough to compete down in the low post, especially with the disadvantage of students who skip a grade.

And after all, Uni is a school celebrated for its brains rather than its brawn.

But thanks to the two Skozas, Rachel and Warren, both girls and boys basketball have a dominant and competitive force in the post.

Forces to be reckoned with

Rachel can score but she can also play defense, as she shows here against DeLand-Weldon. Gargoyle photo by David Porreca (click to enlarge)

Warren goes on the offensive against Judah Christian last week. His seven rebounds and four blocks were crucial to Uni's conference win. Gargoyle photo by David Porreca (click to enlarge)

Senior Rachel Skoza, a four-year varsity player, recently became the fifth female Uni player to score 1,000 points. Her scoring, rebounding, and blocking have been essential to the girls' 14-8 record as they head into their final week of regular-season play.

Sophomore Warren Skoza, in his first year of varsity action, has already become a major presence in the post for the Illineks, leading the team in rebounding and blocked shots as the boys have compiled an 11-7 mark so far.

Standing many inches above most of their Uni peers, Warren, 6-foot-7, and Rachel, 6-1, have their differences.

Rachel is a talented artist and writer, while Warren is more interested in languages and science. Rachel listens to rock and some hip-hop; Warren listens to hip-hop and some rock.

But the one thing that brings them together is their competitiveness at everything and their love for sports.

Aside from their successes in basketball, Rachel excels in volleyball, having set Uni records for career kills and blocks, while Warren is an imposing baseball pitcher and hitter for the Champaign Dream, a select traveling team.

When they are asked who is more competitive, Rachel is quick to answer she is, but Warren isn't quite so sure about that.

Apparently the only thing they are sure about is that Rachel plays a good game of Quiddler, beating her brother once by almost double his score.

Warren is quick to say that it doesn’t matter because Quiddler isn’t a real competition and that he's still able to beat his sister at other games.

Rachel, though, isn't going to let up on her brother that easily. With quick phrasing and then a wide smirk Rachel says: "Quiddler is a good game. It takes intellect to play and win."

Warren and Rachel never let up. Questions such as who is funnier and who wakes up earlier prompt both to claim they are best, no matter the challenge.

The siblings have been competing ever since they were, dare we say, small. Rachel remembers how much fun she had when they were both in grade school in Iowa and Champaign.

"It didn't matter how good we were at basketball because we were a head taller than anyone," she says.

Warren has similar memories: "It was fun. It wasn’t about winning and losing. It was just about having fun, which usually came hand-in-hand with winning."

Like sister, like brother

Warren and Rachel play dress up. Photo courtesy of the Skoza family (click to enlarge)

Rachel had 1,000-point potential from the very beginning. Photo courtesy of the Skoza family (click to enlarge)

Warren shows off his skills back in the day. Photo courtesy of the Skoza family (click to enlarge)

Despite their competitiveness — or perhaps because of it — they both admire each other's play on the basketball court.

Warren praises Rachel’s ability to score from practically anywhere on the court and the intensity that she brings to each game.

"You can see it on her face when she wants to score, and nothing is going to stop her from doing exactly that."

Girls varsity head coach Rebecca Murphy notes Rachel's toughness.

"One game when Rachel was a sophomore, we were in a close battle against Judah Christian," she recalls. "After a hard foul Rachel had to come out of the game. But she sucked up the pain and went back in there and dug deep to help us pull out the win. After the fact we learned that Rachel had had a broken hand."

For her part, Rachel admires Warren's ability to block shots, but she also notes that his talents go beyond that.

"He has unbelievable potential if he uses his height," she says. "His jump shoot is really good, in that it is almost exactly like mine."

Boys varsity head coach Joel Beesley agrees with Rachel on the younger Skoza's potential.

"Warren has an unlimited ceiling," he said. "He can score with either hand. He can block shots or alter shots at will. And he is taking charges and improving his understanding of the game."

The Skozas can be threats on the offensive side, but when they're on the defensive side they become absolute beasts.

Rachel summed it up perfectly with one triumphant word: blocks.

They have a ton of them.

Already Warren in his first year of playing Uni varsity basketball is the No. 3 shot blocker in school history, and over the next two years if he stays on pace he will be Uni's top stopper.

Rachel marveled about Warren's huge block against Judah Christian last week that flew so far past half court that during the rest of the game no one would try to enter the paint (Uni would go on from Warren's defensive stops to make a 25-2 run).

To other players on the court, Warren and Rachel are some of the tallest people they ever have competed against — and with Warren only 14 years old there is still room to grow.

The 6-9 Beesley, currently the tallest person at Uni, hopes for the basketball team's sake and his own that Warren continues to grow.

"It will help him out athletically and also help me out personally," he quips. "It would be nice to see him pick up some of the odd jobs like fixing clocks and grabbing high objects that I get asked to do."

Warren jokes about how great it is to be so tall: "I guess it's good to be able to see over everyone's head."

Rachel, on the other hand, is more nonchalant about her height.

"It helps in basketball, but I don't feel that tall since Joy Shapley, who is also on the basketball team, is just about the same size as I am. And there's always Warren at home."

Athletics dramatics

Coach Rebecca Murphy congratulates Rachel on reaching 1,000 points for her career. Gargoyle photo by David Porreca (click to enlarge)

Both Skozas have been the source of recent basketball drama.

Rachel reached her 1,000th point as an Illinek on Jan. 16 against DeLand-Weldon and is now the fourth all-time scorer in Uni girls basketball history. She finished that game with 14 points.

"I think I could have scored a lot more that night, but I was a little overanxious knowing that I only needed 11 points," she says.

Warren also had his starring moment a few weeks ago in a home game against Arthur-Okaw Christian.

As the teams battled in overtime, Warren came up with a huge block with 15 seconds left on the clock. Then after a missed three-point attempt by junior Dan Lilly, Warren grabbed the rebound and flicked it back at the rim as time expired, winning the game for the Illineks.

"We had played well the entire game and it was very intense, and to have the opportunity that I had and make it, it was a great way to end the game."

Ask Rachel and Warren which of their sibling's accomplishments they could match, and Rachel's answer comes quickly: "I wish I could dunk like my brother."

Warren says he wishes he could score 1,000 points.

The future for the Skozas

Rachel is wrapping up her final regular season for the Illineks, with playoffs beginning next week. Uni fans will have two more seasons to enjoy Warren on the court. Gargoyle photo by Will Fernandez (click to enlarge)

When Warren and Rachel are not playing sports and competing, they have fun messing with each other and their parents.

Rachel laughs about how sometimes, early on weekends, she will set her alarm just to wake up Warren.

Warren remembers when both of them were much younger and they used to try on their parents' 1980s clothes and walk around in them.

"They were absolutely outrageous," he says, "having shoulder pads, different kinds of hats, and really big shoes."

In fact, Rachel says they never really get into fights; they just joke around with each other like other siblings.

Since Rachel is a senior and will be going off to college, Warren will have to make some adjustments next fall.

"It's definitely going to be a lot different around the house without her," he says.

Rachel teases Warren about one thing: "He'll have to do my chores around the house."

She hopes to go to a small school where she might be able to play both volleyball and basketball. Warren also hopes to play at the college level, in either baseball or basketball.

What is very clear about these fun-loving siblings is that no matter what happens in their future, they both will try their hardest. The sky is the limit for both of them — it's just a matter of will.