Crown Point senior Ava Ziolkowski’s sheer numbers are staggering.
Even to her.
“I didn’t expect to have that crazy of a year,” Ziolkowski said. “But it was definitely very fun. Having all of my teammates there with me, it made it even better.”
The 6-foot-1 forward averaged 27.3 points, 10.2 rebounds and 3.2 steals for the Bulldogs (15-11) in a memorable season. Along the way, Ziolkowski, the 2023-24 Post-Tribune Girls Basketball Player of the Year, set several records for a tradition-rich program that has won three state championships and has produced an array of stars.
“All of the tremendous players who have come before Ava in this program, and for her to be not only mentioned but to be breaking some of those records, is truly something special and something I know she takes a lot of pride in,” Crown Point coach Chris Seibert said.
Ziolkowski’s scoring average and 711 points set the program’s single-season records. Jessica Carrothers, a 2022 Indiana All-Star, has the next four highest season totals.
Ziolkowski’s 264 rebounds this season rank second in program history behind 1985 Indiana All-Star Sandy Grabowski’s 271.
Among Ziolkowski’s big games, she put up a program-record 55 points during the Bulldogs’ 78-54 win against Morton on Dec. 13. She eclipsed the previous mark of 42 that Carrothers scored in the Bulldogs’ win against Lake Central in a 2022 regional final.
That game stood out the most to Ziolkowski.
“The single-game record was the top one, my favorite one,” she said. “Fifty-five is pretty crazy. I didn’t even know throughout the game I had that many because I was just playing. After the game, I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh. No way.’”
Ziolkowski actually scored 42 points against LaPorte on Nov. 21, one of five games in which she scored in the 40s. She scored at least 30 points in four other games. She reached double figures in each of the Bulldogs’ 26 games.
“It wasn’t like it was a one-off,” Seibert said of Ziolkowski’s record-breaking game. “And that was the one thing we really talked about coming into the season, just being more consistent, being efficient with the shots she was taking and being able to score around the basket in a varsity of ways. So if teams tried to take away her outside shooting, she had other ways to still impact the game scoring with her ability to slash and finish around the rim and get to the free-throw line.”
Ziolkowski continued to produce despite being the focus of all of Crown Point’s opponents.
“We saw just about every defense imaginable,” Seibert said.
Ziolkowski began to see that sort of attention during her breakout junior season. After the iconic duo of Carrothers and Lilly Stoddard graduated, Ziolkowski averaged 17.9 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.0 steals, setting the stage for this historic season.
“I definitely knew I wanted to work on being consistent and my defense,” Ziolkowski said. “I feel that definitely improved, and it just carried over to more scoring and more rebounds. I wanted to make my game more complete.”
Leadership also factored into that all-around equation for Ziolkowski.
“That was probably what was hardest for her, just being more of a vocal leader and taking more of a leadership role,” Seibert said. “She was really the only player we had coming back with significant varsity experience. That was the one thing, that leadership ability, that she really had to work at to become more vocal. But she did a tremendous, tremendous job with that this year.”
Ziolkowski’s diligence didn’t surprise Seibert. It’s how she approaches anything she does.
“The biggest thing with her was never being satisfied,” Seibert said. “She was always the youngest kid at each level — the only freshman on our state championship team, the youngest kid as a sophomore, the youngest kid as a junior with a bunch of upperclassmen. Her never being complacent, never being satisfied, always wanting to put in more time to get better, to ask what she can improve upon. Everything success-wise on the basketball court, everything she’s accomplished, is a direct result of the work ethic she has and the time she’s put into the game.”
Ziolkowski said she has “always been like that,” shrugging off the long hours necessary to excel.
“I’ve always just kept working and could always improve on something,” she said. “Nobody’s perfect.”
Ziolkowski’s efforts made a deep and wide-ranging impact, according to Seibert.
“It’s great for our younger kids to see one of your hardest workers also be one of your best players,” he said. “It’s always a great thing for a coach. She’s just a tremendous role model for all of the youth in our program and how many of those kids look up to her and want to be the next Ava Ziolkowski. That’s as good of a legacy as you can possibly leave.”
Ziolkowski, who finished fifth in program history with 1,341 points and fourth with 541 rebounds, will continue her playing career at Indiana Tech. She said she’s focusing on adapting to what she anticipates will be a “faster pace” in college.
“The growth from her freshman year to her senior year just as a basketball player, a leader and obviously statistically and skill-wise is as great or maybe the most growth I’ve ever experienced as a coach,” Seibert said. “For someone to take the leaps she made and to make those jumps each year to culminate in one of the best statistical seasons in the history of our program is incredible.
“I don’t know that I could be more proud of a kid than what Ava’s been able to accomplish. Her work ethic, her leadership, all the work she does at our youth camps — she never misses a youth camp. The kids absolutely love her. That’s the stuff when you talk about a program, that will long outlast her playing, just those relationships and the little kids who look up to her and want to be her. The statistical stuff is all very impressive. But there’s a lot more to her than just the stats that make her truly special.”
