Elliott pins it down on the mat and court

Updated: February 2, 2012 9:12PM

Love came into Makeba Elliott’s life when she was a 7-year-old tyke and her father, Michael, signed her up with the Harvey Twisters wrestling club.

Turned out she was good at it. No, great.

By the time she was 10, Elliott was a three-time state amateur wrestling champion, twice in the boys division.

First loves often don’t last forever, and for Elliott it ended in eighth grade with a broken foot and a yearning to try something different.

The something different was basketball. And guess what? She’s good at that, too. Real good.

Elliott, a senior guard, is averaging 15 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals and 1.5 assists for Rich East. She has her sights set on playing in college. If Rockets coach Jonnie Bass is her reference, she’s a shoo-in.

“Makeba’s a good kid. She’s a strong kid,” Bass said. “She carries us now. I mean, I do have a freshman (Danielle King) who does what she does. But if it wasn’t for Makeba’s leadership, we’d struggle.

“She’s our captain this year. She’s come a long way.”

And what a journey it has been.

The Park Forest resident grew up with a great role model in her older brother, Malik, who was a top wrestler at Mount Carmel and in college at Boston College and Northwestern.

“I used to always go to his wrestling meets and I would wrestle with his teammates,” she said. “I loved playing with the boys. I played football with the boys, basketball, wrestling, baseball. I was strong and fast.”

And eager for competition, especially on the mat. At age 7 her father signed her up with the Harvey Twisters.

“He knew I loved it and just threw me right in,” Elliott said. “My mom (Ralmah) was a little mad about it at first, but she knew I loved it, and she supported me.”

All the while maintaining grades as an honor student at Blackhawk Elementary School, Elliott began turning heads in short order, especially after she learned her signature move, a double-leg takedown taught to her by Twisters coach Quintroy Harrell. In 2004 she became the first girl to capture a boys state title in the IKWF midget division. In 2005 she went 54-5 and repeated as the state champ in the boys class.

Elliott also won a girls state title during her wrestling career, but it was being asked about beating the boys that brought the biggest smile to her face.

“Most of them didn’t even know I was girl until we took off our headgear,” she said. “Then they went, ‘Wow, we just lost to a girl.’ Then they’d cry even harder. I loved making boys cry.”

Elliott’s wrestling career came to an end in eighth grade when she needed surgery to remove what she said was an extra bone that had grown in her right foot.

“I had been planting on it, just making it worse and worse,” she said. “The bone was growing, killing my foot. I guess I kind of just grew out of wrestling.”

After recovering, Elliott joined the girls basketball program her freshman year at Rich East. By her sophomore season she was a big contributor on the varsity, thanks to leadership from older players such as Diamond Burt.

“Diamond kept me focused and disciplined all the time,” Elliott said. “She was always on me about my grades, and in basketball about using my left (hand) dribbling. We played together every summer and she always helped me out.”

Elliott was instrumental as a soph for Rich East in the state playoffs that season, scoring a team-high 19 points in a first-round victory over Crete-Monee, then scoring the game-winning basket at the buzzer in a 46-44 victory over Lemont in the semifinals.

She’s been a leader for Rich East ever since, this season playing at one time or another both guard spots and forward. At 5-foot-6, she’s the team’s leading rebounder.

“I know I have to step it up a lot this year being a senior,” Elliott said. “The teammates I looked up to are all gone.

“I want to get a scholarship, play in college and become a physical therapist. My big sister (Maya) is in occupational therapy and she loves her job. I love her job.”

There’s no reason to think love won’t be true this time, either.

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