Crown Point junior Ava Ziolkowski has become accustomed to landing atop opponents’ scouting reports.
A role player in the past, the 6-foot-1 forward expected to become a central figure after the end of a dynastic era for the Bulldogs. But she didn’t necessarily expect to produce at this level.
“I’m a little surprised,” she said. “But my teammates have been helping me with getting good passes and good looks. It’s been really nice.”
Ziolkowski is averaging 18.7 points, 7.1 rebounds and 2.0 steals for the Bulldogs (9-6), a steep increase in production. She averaged 5.3 points and 2.3 rebounds last season, the final one at Crown Point in the iconic careers of Jessica Carrothers and Lilly Stoddard.
Without specifying any particular numbers, Crown Point coach Chris Seibert talked with Ziolkowski and senior guard Brooke Lindesmith, the team’s lone returning starter, before the season about shouldering an increased scoring load. He also discussed rebounding and getting to the free-throw line as means to “easy points.”
Ziolkowski has delivered across the board.
“The biggest thing with Ava is how much she continues to improve,” Seibert said. “She continues to be able to diversify her game where she can score at all three levels, where she’s not just a threat from the outside as a standstill shooter. She’s been attacking off the dribble, being able to post up some when small guards are chasing her.
“She’s been able to help us in so many ways, not just scoring but also with rebounding on the defensive end as well. Her efficiency and her ability to score is definitely something that’s much needed with our team and something that separates her from a lot of other players in the area.”
From the outset, it was evident teams were going to defend Ziolkowski differently, paying close attention to her. She responded with 16 points in each of Crown Point’s first two games and scored 26 in the third.
The fourth game, a loss to Andrean in which she fouled out with a season-low four points, acted as a turning point.
“She struggled, but since that Andrean game, we were able to sit down and watch film as a team,” Seibert said. “She’s been consistent game in and game out since that game.”
Seibert identified two issues.
“A lot of what was hindering her early in the season was just foul trouble,” he said. “She was being overly aggressive and doing some things that in the past, she gets a foul here or there, it’s not that big of an issue. But for us to win important games and to be at our best, we need her on the floor. So we just talked about moving her feet, not gambling as much if somebody has her blocked out.
“The other part was just showing her other ways she could’ve gotten open and show her teammates, ‘Hey, she went back door on this play, and we need to get her the ball.’ It may not be out of a set play or out of something scripted. It has to be something free-flowing because what a lot of teams are doing, they’re trying to deny her the ball altogether. So a lot of it has to be a full team effort to find ways to get her the ball and put her in position to be successful.”
Indeed, Ziolkowski hasn’t scored fewer than 13 points since the loss to Andrean and recorded a career-high of 31.
“That was my hardest game,” Ziolkowski said of that loss. “I struggled because I never really faced that before. We talked about seeing that more often and how I have to be able to keep calm when I can’t stand wide-open at the 3-point line. I have to make myself open and give people options. It helps my teammates when I’m getting chased by getting open looks for them. It opens up a lot of the floor.
“After a few times, I got used to it. I really just focus on making myself open by cutting and coming off my teammates’ screens they set for me.”
In preparation for this season, Ziolkowski, who has received interest from a handful of Division I programs, worked to hone her shot, which has been her calling card, and to improve her dribbling skills, allowing her to add that dimension of driving. Her efforts clearly have yielded results.
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“It’s just the ability to attack when she does catch,” Seibert said. “She’s getting so little space from other teams. They’re not letting her stand and shoot, or (are) trying to do that. Her ability to move without the ball and constantly be a threat offensively while being chased constantly by one of the other team’s better defenders definitely was a change.
“She struggled with it early in the year, but she’s really done a great job continuing to improve in that area as well.”