MAYER – There’s many ways for a player to have an impact on a game in the sport of basketball. Whether it’s on offense or defense, a coach will always welcome you to their team if you work and play hard.
While the Mayer Lutheran girls basketball team is enjoying another successful season, it’s been seniors Mya Chmielewski and Maddy Hucky leading the way. Chmielewski and Hucky are the school’s all-time leading scorers, and on the floor, they are completely different players. Although Hucky and Chmielewski have different styles of play, there’s no doubt they are both effective as their names appear at the top of the schools’s all-time scoring list.
Mya Chmielewski and Maddy Hucky are Mayer Lutheran’s all-time leading scorers in school history.
“They are two different players,” Mayer Lutheran coach Kris Gustin said. “Mya is a freak athlete. She’s explosive, and for much of her career, it really has been the defense that creates points for her. She’s really worked hard the last couple of years to develop a jump shot. Maddy throws up some of the craziest shots, and they just seem to go in. If you were to describe Maddy in one move, it’s either the 3-pointer, which obviously she has a great shot from out there, or it’s the dribble penetration usually proceeded by a quick cross over and then the pull up jump shot. She shoots at odd angles. She shoots with people hanging all over her, but it’s that pull up jump shot. She elevates well. She’s long and gets above girls which has obviously helped her.”
Although unexpected and something that means a lot, both Hucky and Chmielewski agree it was special to accomplish what they have together as teammates, and have their names with some other girls they’ve looked up to growing up.
“It’s cool to be able to do it with Mya,” Hucky said. “With us being girls, it’s cool to do that and have more than the guys. It really shows our hard work and dedication. We got a chance to play all four years, too, so that helps.”
“It’s fun to have someone else to experience it with,” Chmielewski said. “I looked up to a lot of those girls in grade school. Their hard work showed me what my hard work can do.”
Whether it’s Chmielewski turning turnovers into points, or Hucky knocking down 3-pointers, the Crusaders are a tough matchup to guard when both are on the floor.
“They’re two different scorers and both of them have their unique skill sets that help our team,” Gustin said. “They really actually feed off each other in a game. Mya’s ability to penetrate and kick the ball out creates openings for Maddy. If a team has to focus on Maddy because she’s having a good game, it opens up the lane for Mya.”
While Chmielewski reached the 1,000th career point milestone last season, Hucky joined the elusive club this season and hasn’t looked back. On the season, Hucky is averaging 15.9 points per a game, and has knocked down 43 3-pointers already this season.
“Maddy’s shots are phenomenal,” Chmielewski said. “She makes them all. She’s really good at driving into the lane and getting that pull up jump shot.”
While Hucky as the edge on the 3-point shooting, Chmielewski is a fearless guard that strives on getting into the paint and getting points of turnovers. Chmielewski is averaging 15 points a game, while also having 64 steals and 81 assists on the season.
“Mya can just get in the lane,” Hucky said. “She can draw the foul and hit pretty much any shot in the lane. That really helps. Her defense is obviously really good too with her steals.”
With two big-time scorers on the floor for the Crusaders in Hucky and Chmielewski, that not only makes things easier for their teammates, but also themselves. If one is having an off game, there’s no panic as they pick each other up and work together to get the win.
“I know there’s not as much pressure going into it,” Hucky said about having Chmielewski to rely on. “I know Mya’s there and she’s a big scorer, too. Everyone’s game just feeds off each other when we’re all doing good. If one person is doing good, we feed off it, and then everyone else does good. It’s just really fun to play like that.”
The Crusaders post a record of 14-7 so far this season, and of those seven losses, six have come against ranked teams in Class A or AA.
With an impressive record and playing against some tough competition, that only helps the Crusaders get ready for a deep run in the Section 4A tournament coming up this month.
“It’s definitely a goal,” Hucky said about getting over the hump in the section tournament this season. “He’s (Gustin) definitely been talking about it a lot and making sure we work hard in practice. Everything is, OK, we have to do this because we’re going to see it in a section game.”
With a strong season thus far, the Crusaders are likely to claim the top seed in the Section 4A tournament this season barring any let down in the final few weeks. With a group of players who have experience, combined with a wide-open section, the Crusaders know this is their time.
“We have a window right now,” Chmielewski said. “We need to take advantage of the opportunity we have.”
Before the postseason arrives, the Crusaders have one other thing on their mind – a conference title. With three conference games left on the schedule and trailing Norwood Young America by just one game in the standings, the Crusaders have a big matchup with the Raiders on their home court next week.
If the Crusaders want to take down the Raiders and keep their hopes of a conference title alive, they’ll need to continue to keep playing their style of team basketball. Although the points may come from Hucky and Chmielewski a majority of the time, players like Nicole Klaustermeier, Olivia Tjernagel, Sophie Heuer, Brooke Paulsrud, and Symone Jopp are crucial parts to the success of the Crusaders.
“Over the course of my coaching career, we haven’t had a lot of those special Division I or Division II players,” Gustin said. “It’s been a lot of team basketball. This kind of exemplifies that. They got good pieces around them that do their roles. I think it’s comforting to know that you’ve got teammates around you. You got pieces around you. You just do what you can for your team on any given night.”