Crown Point senior Jaden Skulfield has paid his dues.
The 6-foot-5 center/forward started on the freshman team, came off the bench for the junior varsity team as a sophomore and was a varsity reserve as a junior.
Skulfield finally cracked the starting lineup this season, and the Bulldogs proceeded to win their first sectional title since 2016.
“I had to work my way up,” he said. “I’m just happy and grateful to have this opportunity. I just love doing it.”
Crown Point coach Clint Swan is happy to have Skulfield on the roster as the Bulldogs (19-5) play Warsaw (19-5) in the Class 4A Michigan City Regional on Saturday. Their lone regional title came in 1998.
“He’s just one of those program guys,” Swan said. “I remember watching him in seventh grade at Taft, and like a lot of our guys, he’s just always been that unselfish role player. He’s one of our unsung heroes. He understands what he brings on the defensive end. He doesn’t get selfish and want for more than that. He just does what’s asked of him.”
Skulfied’s numbers are modest. He’s averaging 3.3 points and 2.0 rebounds. He has embraced doing the little things.
“I just really admire playing defense and getting rebounds,” he said. “I just do my job. I guard the big post player and work hard, not let him catch the ball at all. Just play good defense, get rebounds and play hard and aggressive.
“Defense is really where I want to get noticed. If coach tells me to guard the best player, I’m going to guard the best player. I just like to get down low and really just go to work — just play hard and not let them score.”
Indeed, Skulfield has made a significant impact on defense.
“At the defensive end of the floor, he affords us so much flexibility,” Swan said. “If you need him to guard the biggest guy, he can guard the biggest guy. If you need him to guard the other team’s four man, he can guard the four man. If we need him to guard a wing, he can guard a wing.
“He can switch ball screens because he’s athletic and laterally quick enough to stay with the other team’s guards. He just affords us a lot of flexibility and just has the right mindset to accept that role. He’s been great for us.”
That includes Skulfield’s ability to unite the Bulldogs, who finished in a four-way tie atop the Duneland Athletic Conference, their first title since sharing it with Valparaiso in 2017.
“Jaden’s a good guy,” Crown Point sophomore forward/guard Dikembe Shaw said. “He’s a great teammate. He’s like the glue of the team. He knows everybody. He talks to everybody. He has a personal relationship with everybody on the team. That’s the type of friendly guy he is.
“He means a lot to me. He’s one of the first people I met on the team coming in from eighth grade until now. Seeing what he’s done, it’s great.”
Describing Skulfield’s demeanor, Swan jokingly referenced “The Emotions of Chuck Norris” T-shirt, which shows the action star with the same facial expression in every image.
“That’s Skully,” Swan said. “Even keel. Just even keel all the time.”
Swan said he believes the Bulldogs have “11 or 12 starters.” He noted they used 11 players in the first half of their sectional final against Chesterton, a game in which Skulfield was “great” in scoring eight points.
That depth extends to the frontcourt. Senior Seamus Malaski, a multisport standout, plays “starter minutes,” according to Swan; junior Quinn Begley has come on during the course of the last month; and junior Kolby Henderlong has earned meaningful minutes.
Skulfield’s contributions among the group are appreciated.
“He’s a great leader,” Henderlong said. “A lot of communication down low from him on defense. If anyone gets stuck up in a screen or anything, he’s always there to talk you out of it. He’s a great guy all around.”
Skulfield said he wants to prolong his time around his teammates.
“Winning the sectional feels amazing,” he said. “We’ve been putting in work every day in practice to get here, and it’s just been awesome so far. Hopefully we can keep it going.”
