For some of us, we can choose our own destiny.
For others, it is thrust upon us, like a chest pass from a teammate at the top of the key.
Sure, it’s possible North Shore High School senior basketball star Sofia Della Ratta could’ve played a sport other than basketball.
But it was extremely, extremely unlikely. Because Della Ratta’s basketball genetics goes back a long, long way.
Her grandfather, Jeremiah Houston, is a legend at St. John’s University, now in the school’s Hall of Fame for his exploits for the Redmen in the early 1960s, and a man who once scored 69 points in a high school game.
Sofia’s uncle, Kevin Houston, played for Army at West Point and led the NCAA Division I in scoring his senior year, averaging 32.9 points per game in 1986-87.
Another uncle, Jerry Houston, played at Iona and now coaches the Pearl River H.S. team in New York.
So the idea of Sofia picking up a lacrosse stick or a volleyball was pretty farfetched.
“My whole life, basketball has been around and I have loved it always,” Della Ratta said. “We’d go over to my aunt’s house for a birthday party or something, and there would always be a game going on in the driveway.”
All that basketball in her blood has been a boon to the Vikings team the last four years. Making varsity as a freshman, the 5-foot-6 Della Ratta has been entrenched in the starting lineup ever since, shooting, passing and rebounding her way to the top of the team’s leaders.
This season as a senior is Della Ratta’s finest yet. As the team’s longest-tenured player, she’s become a role model for the younger kids and has been scoring at her best pace yet. Through games of January 30, Della Ratta is averaging 17 points, nine rebounds, five assists, and five steals per game. She’s also had two triple-doubles this season, a rare feat for a scholastic player.
Della Ratta is a huge reason North Shore is atop the Conference A-II standings, with an 8-1 league record and an 11-5 overall mark.
“She’s just a kid everyone loves to be around,” said North Shore head coach Keith Freund. “She’s always smiling, always giving high-fives, and just has a real happiness to her overall, and that rubs off on people.
“The other thing is,” Freund adds, “that it helps if your best player is your hardest worker. And she is our hardest worker.”
Della Ratta said her joy comes from loving every second she’s on the court. She’s been a basketball fanatic since third grade, when Freund, who lives three houses away, would see her bouncing the basketball on the driveway for hours.
“When I’m playing basketball, there isn’t any time to think about anything else,” she said. “It’s just where I’m happiest.”
In 3rd grade, Della Ratta really fell in love with the sport.
“Once I tried out for Rising Stars (her first club team) I just wanted to keep playing,” Della Ratta said. “That gave me the confidence, making the team, to want to keep playing.”
Della Ratta scores from all over the floor. She’s aggressive in driving to the hoop but also can shoot 3-pointers. This season, Freund said she’s gotten better at the little things, like boxing out on defense and constantly talking to her teammates. She’s the first to help younger players during film study, pointing out what they did right on a play or what they could do better.
The Vikings have yet to win a county title during Della Ratta’s career, but each season, they’ve gotten a little closer; last year, they were narrowly defeated by two points in the Class A semifinals.
With “the hardest working team I’ve ever been on” by her side, Della Ratta is hoping to snatch a little of the hardwood glory her relatives enjoyed before going to play a Division III Roger Williams (Rhode Island) in the fall.
“I talk to Pop (Jeremiah) after almost every game. He’s always giving me pointers and joking around with me,” she said with a laugh. “He’s my role model and I’m always trying to do as well as he did.”
