There is no warning sign outside the main gym at Buffalo Grove, so as a public service we offer this advice:
Upon entering, please wear sunglasses.
The relentlessly bright, sunny, upbeat disposition of twin sisters Allison and Maggie Mocchi is difficult to tolerate without the shades. They rarely disagree on anything.
“We’ve shared bedrooms, we’ve shared everything since we were little. That’s why we’re so close,” says Maggie, one minute older than Allison. “What’s mine is hers, what’s hers is mine.”
It’s hardly unusual that a set of twins would succeed in sports. There are triplets–the Frazees–who play for Liberty University’s women’s basketball team. What seems special is how close these two juniors are.
So close that the Mocchis have told recruiters they are a package deal.
“A lot of coaches have asked how we want to do it,” Allison says. “We’re a two-for-one deal. We want to go to school together. We’re not going to go somewhere if someone offers one of us and not the other one. So far coaches who have talked to us are going for both of us.”
They are each “5-10ish,” Allison says and last season helped the Bison reach the Elite Eight at Redbird Arena in Normal. Befitting their bond, they each scored 15 points against Bolingbrook in the quarterfinals–only to lose 55-54 in overtime to the eventual Class AA state champion.
With returning starters Ellen Ayoub and Rachel Buchek, the Mocchis have helped the No. 2 Bison roll to a 9-0 start. Buffalo Grove’s most telling victory came Nov. 25 when it beat another top-10 team, Maine South, 61-47.
The Mocchis each scored 14 in that victory, which gave Buffalo Grove the title of its own Thanksgiving tournament.
The girls share the same room, clothing (“Just not pink–I hate pink,” Maggie says), music (hip-hop), food (apparently anything), books (mysteries) and friends. Only recently did they get their own cell phones.
“We’re pretty much the same person,” Maggie says. “It’s hard to find a difference.”
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asutton@tribune.com
