New Haven Independent

He also hapens to be a fine English student who loves Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter as well.

Meet Elvin Rodriguez, one of ten scholar-athletes honored at halftime during the game Monday evening at the New Haven Athletic Center (aka the Field House) James Hillhouse High. Although he moved to New Haven only two years agof rom Puerto Rico, and he struggles a bit with his spoken English, Elvin Rodriguez enjoys English literature. He’s maintaining a 3.2 grade point average.

In December, when he was selected to be the scholar-athlete of the month (along with Tiffany Wynn, another basketballer from Career High), the GPA was even higher; he made high honors roll at Cross.

If Rodriguez is any measure — and he is — these scholar athletes are not bench warmers. Cross’s record this year was 19-0 at tipoff, and Hillhouse’s, 17-2. One of those losses was to Cross on Jan. 15, breaking Hillhouse’s 23-game win streak. And Hillhouse is a two-time Connecticut state champion.

At stake Monday night was cross-town pride, and an answer to the question: Was the first Cross win a fluke?

In the first quarter, with his intense defensive play, the lanky Rodriguez stayed as close to Fred Post, Jr., one of Hillhouse’s most proficient shooters, as the “A “on Hester Prynne’s dress.

He made a sweet short jumper for his first two points in the second quarter and helped Cross, trailing throughout the first half, to stay close. When Rodriguez’s teammate Marcus Wright scored the 1,000th point of his career, Cross finally broke through, ending the half one point ahead 24-23.

While his teammates hit the locker room, Elvin joined his other arguably even more elite team for a ceremonial presentation of scholar-athlete certificates at mid-court. Gary Barbour and Paulene Musa (up front), he from Career and she from Cross, were hailed for their soccer skills and, in Musa’s case, for being the glue and captain of her team and achieving admirably on a slew of Advanced Placement exams at the same time. Ilicia Mathis [on the right in the photo] is the most recent pick, making honor roll and scoring, count them, 33 points for her Career High hoopsters in January.

As the second half got under way, it was no surprise, given the long-standing rivalry between these powerhouses, that the game see-sawed. In the third quarter, while Elvin rested, 1,817 fans applauded smooth jumpers, continued tight defense, and even a few wild patches when the players, with so much at stake, sacrificed their bodies and several young men went sliding across the floor.

In the third quarter, Elvin returned with his team down 36-37. He took a jumper, but it wouldn’t fall. With five minutes left the Governors (Cross) were up by one. Rodriguez shot, just missed again, but his teammate converted the rebound.

Hillhouse’s Jeremy Moore tied it with a three-pointer with two minutes left. Rodriguez was open as time was running out, but his teammate did not see him. He slapped his hands together, but remained cool. Very cool.

It appeared as if Cross would win as with about 30 seconds left and Hillhouse down by three, the Governors ate the clock. The Academics were forced to foul and hope for a chance for a three.

With just seconds left, Rodriguez was guarding Post again. The teams cleared out. It was one-on-one.

Post could not get loose from Elvin, but a teammate did. With three seconds left Tywan Samuels tied the game at 49-49.

The overtime was a reprise of the classic Hillhouse-Cross battle that had just been fought. Elvin played the whole additional period, not thinking of Nathaniel Hawthorne for sure. He launched a three midway through, but it wouldn’t fall. His coach conferred with him and told him not to foul. He didn’t, and Cross prevailed in the overtime by two points to maintain its unbeaten record.

Pat Schread, who has taught Latin at Cross for 40 years, was not surprised either by Elvin Rodriguez’s play or the Cross victory.

“I’m one of the greatest fans of this team, and for years there have been fine players who are also excellent students,” she said. She said she thought the award was nice but said they’ve had fine scholar-athletes for years. She had many soccer players in fact who were getting proficient in Caesar’s Gallic Wars.

“You need discipline, you need to know how to manage your time, and you need to have, like Elvin, the kind of personality that will accept criticism and work through adversity.”

Or, to use a phrase a reporter has wanted to employ ever since he read Virgil in high school himself, mens sana in corpora sana!

With a banquet and other good stuff funded by Humphrey’s East Restaurant, the scholar-athlete program was launched this year, according to the NHPS’ supervisor of athletics, Joe Canzanella, “because kids who are excellent athletes and excellent students are not sufficiently recognized.”

One young man and young woman are selected each month by a committee of teachers, coaches, and administrators. In order of importance, Canaznella said, are achievements in the classroom, achievements in competition, and then character.

Canzanella said the program will continue. The minimum GPA any NHPS student must maintain in order to play a sport is 70. The minimum to be maintained to be in contention to be a scholar-athlete is 85. The other scholar athletes not previously mentioned in this article include Maritza Rosemond (Career, volleyball); Paul Corona (Hillhouse, football); Chris Chin (Hillhouse, football); Latrice Hampton (Cross, track); and Jordan Gillian (Hyde Leadership, track).