Lowell junior Elysia Laub has been weaving together the threads of the tapestry for many years.
Already an accomplished teen off the court, Laub has also become the kind of player the Red Devils can rely upon this season.
“I just want to be there for my team, be a part of my team in the games that count,” she said. “All games count. But when you’re in a close game, against a tough team, when it might not have been close in the past, that’s when it’s most important to really show up for your team. I always try to show up for my team.”
Laub, a 6-foot-2 center, was averaging 6.9 points and a team-high 6.3 rebounds for Lowell (9-4) ahead of its Northwest Crossroads Conference game against Highland on Thursday. Senior forward Kirstin Summers was averaging a team-high 13.8 points as the Red Devils already look to exceed their number of victories from last season.
“I don’t necessarily score the most points,” Laub said. “But if I’m there to get the rebound and Kirstin doesn’t have to wait and worry about that, she can already be down the floor, and we can be fast-breaking into a layup. That’s how we score a lot of our points.
“If I wasn’t rebounding, we’d both have to stay. She trusts me, and I trust her. When everybody on your team does their part, that’s how you score. You have to rely on each other, and you have to do your job.”
Lowell coach Kelly Chavez hoped Laub would be able to do a job for the Red Devils from the outset of her high school career. But it was too early in the process.
“She just now is growing into her body,” Chavez said. “She really shot up in eighth grade, and she was really awkward coming into her freshman year. We knew we needed her to be a force for us on varsity. But freshman year, she wasn’t there yet because she wasn’t caught up to her body yet. Last year she did a lot better. But this year, she’s really found her place on the floor.”
Indeed, Laub was 5-4 in seventh grade and shot up to about 5-10 in eighth grade. She was 6-0 as a freshman before reaching her current height last season.
“I grew a lot in a really short period of time,” she said. “Freshman year, I was really uncoordinated. I wasn’t bad, but I just didn’t really know what I was doing. That’s a lot of change for your body to go through. But we got our coordination back, and we’re back at it.”
Laub played on the junior varsity team as a freshman. She moved up to the varsity team midway through last season and averaged 3.2 points and 3.2 rebounds. It served as a springboard for her.
“That was really important because there’s such a big difference between JV and varsity,” Laub said. “It’s a completely different game. It’s not even the same thing. Getting those minutes and playing with so many of my teammates, we started to jell as a team.”
For the first time, Laub also played AAU ball for a team other than the one in town with exclusively Lowell players. Forming a group that included players from other Region schools opened her eyes.
“It was a new experience,” she said. “You play with the same girls your whole life, you get used to one type of play. But when you’re open and you have new guards and new posts, you have to learn how to adapt to your other players. It makes you more well-rounded as a player.”
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It also had broader implications for Laub.
“The big thing was confidence,” she said. “I’ve always struggled with confidence and shooting the ball. When I miss, I don’t want to shoot again just because I never had that role on the team and I never wanted it. It’s just a lot of pressure.
“But when I decided to play AAU this summer, in those games, my team relied on me to shoot. They would pass to me for a post shot. You’re playing against really big girls from all over the country. … You start getting the hang of it, you start making them, and then you take it here and have a little more confidence.”
Senior point guard Ava Fleming has seen the strides Laub has made.
“Her confidence is a lot better,” Fleming said. “Her overall post movement, she has a lot more moves. Having her as a post helps keep the defense down low because they know she’s a threat. That way, we can get more open on the perimeter. That’s really nice to have.
“And her rebounding helps a bunch. That way, she rebounds really quick, she grabs it and we can push in transition. We score a lot in transition. She’s just a big help down low.”
Laub also plays volleyball. She was a thrower in track and field as a freshman and played tennis as a sophomore. She is planning to return to track.
In a twist, one spring sport that didn’t stick was softball, even though Paul Laub, the iconic former Whiting softball coach, is her grandfather. He was the Oilers’ first and only coach until he retired in 2015, having led them to state titles in 2006 and 2008. Whiting’s softball field bears his name.
“I didn’t like it,” Elysia Laub said of softball. “I thought it was too slow. I didn’t like sitting there. That’s why I like basketball. It’s quick. He still comes to all of my games.”
Laub said she intends to attend Purdue and study chemical engineering.
“She’s insanely smart,” Chavez said. “She’s one of the top people in her class. Sometimes that hurts her on the floor because she overthinks things and she’s really critical of herself.
“She’s just a very smart girl — too smart for her own good sometimes. But it’s endless with her. She can do anything she sets her mind to.”
Chavez said Laub is a “great mentor” to 6-2 freshman Gatlin Hanrath. Laub said she also has a tutoring business for a “few kids.” She enjoys baking and reading and participates in 4-H.
“I show animals at the Lake County Fair,” Laub said. “I own pigs. I raise them, sell them. It’s fun.”
In July 2016, 9-year-old Laub gained international renown when she found an abandoned newborn girl near her backyard and was called a “guardian angel.” At first glance, she thought the baby might be a pig.
“People play the videos on, like, a daily basis,” Laub said. “My friends like to do it because they know I get embarrassed. But it’s fine. It’s funny. It’s just so odd — that just doesn’t happen. It’s kind of crazy. One summer day, I just went out there and found a baby. It’s kind of weird to think about, but I saved a child.
“She was my neighbor, so I do see the baby on Facebook from time to time. She’s almost 8 now. They’re happy. It’s nice.”