Crown Point junior forward Ava Punak has progressed at a rapid rate in a relatively short amount of time.
Punak didn’t begin playing basketball until middle school.
“Seventh grade,” she said. “Not very young. My dad was like, ‘You should try out for the basketball team.’ I was like, ‘You know what, why not?’ The tryout in seventh grade was the first time I ever touched a basketball.”
But the 5-foot-11 Punak is already a key player for the Bulldogs (8-0), who are ranked No. 15 in the state coaches poll under first-year coach Brad Stangel. She was averaging 8.7 points, which is the second-highest mark on the team behind sophomore guard Ava Richie‘s 18.0, along with a team-best 5.6 rebounds and 3.0 steals before Crown Point’s win over Lowell on Tuesday.
“She has 21 steals and 28 deflections and 39 rebounds — she just always gets her hands on the ball,” Stangel said. “It’s one of those things, all of a sudden, all of the numbers are filled. She doesn’t just score. She’s done a nice job. She just is really, really a very good basketball player.”
Punak was primarily a soccer player when she was younger. She played for the Bulldogs during her freshman and sophomore years as well as for a travel team. But she opted not to play this past season in order to focus on basketball.
“It was a tough decision because I’ve played soccer my whole life,” Punak said. “But it was a lot on my body. This year with a new coach, I really didn’t want to miss workouts.”
After spending most of her freshman season on the junior varsity team, Punak secured a spot in the Bulldogs’ lineup last season and averaged 6.5 points, 4.9 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 2.8 steals.
“Coming in my sophomore year, I was coming off JV, and I wasn’t very confident yet,” she said. “My sophomore year was more about building my confidence.
“Now that I’m an upperclassman, I’m trying to help the underclassmen build their confidence because that’s what I needed coming in. We only have three seniors, so I have to step in and be a bigger leader. I try to have a big presence on defense.”
Crown Point junior forward/center Ivy Henderson believes Punak has been succeeding on those fronts.
“Ava is a force on defense and is always in the right spot to get the steal,” Henderson said. “She’s also good at creating space and driving to the basket on offense.
“She is very funny and is always there to crack a joke and lighten up the mood, whether we’re at practice or preparing for a game.”
Crown Point sophomore guard/forward Sidney Hale agreed.
“She has a big impact on the team,” Hale said of Punak. “She’s a good leader. When she’s doing well, she can lift up other people and bring energy into the team. She’s really confident, which is good to have.”
Punak has earned that level of confidence with her dedication to the sport.
“Just wanting to put in the extra work, not only what was needed,” she said. “Just wanting to do better. And the weight room too — I’ve gotten way stronger from my freshman year and even last year. And I feel like my shot has gotten more accurate too. It’s just wanting to put in the extra work.”
Stangel, whose five seasons with the Andrean boys basketball team included the 2019 Class 2A state title and four seasons with the Hanover Central boys basketball team included a 2025 Class 3A sectional title, thinks Punak has even more room to develop.
“Ava has a lot of potential to be a great basketball player,” Stangel said. “She’s growing into her role here. She’s playing with a lot more confidence as our season goes. She’s unique. With her size and her athleticism and her strength, she’s a very difficult matchup. Because she can guard all five positions, there really isn’t a bad matchup for her defensively. She can always play. If you don’t have someone who’s the same size as her, she’s going to be quicker than your big or bigger and stronger than the small one you’re going to put on her. She can guard both of them. She’s unique in that sense.
“When I used to coach college basketball, those were the players that we were looking for, the ones that could guard both bigger than them and smaller than them and just be able to play. We’ve asked her to play on the perimeter a little bit more than maybe she’s used to, and she’s adapted really well.”
Punak, who could envision continuing to play basketball in college, is enjoying the fruits of her labor but knows she has more to do.
“Everyone’s excited,” she said. “We’ve been working really hard. But the biggest thing is just staying consistent, just putting in that work every day and not letting up and not getting too comfortable.”
