CROWN POINT — As a point guard all her life, Crown Point’s Alex Webster enjoyed being the person in control.

Practically from the moment she picked up a basketball, she fell in love with the position.

“I liked to control things and I liked being a floor general,” the senior said. “At least for me, it’s the best position to play. I don’t have a problem telling people I am a control freak.”

But she has relinquished that control in her final season, playing shooting guard for the first time in her high school career. She takes over the position with the graduation of Sarah Zondor (now at DePauw University).

“I think it’ll be weird for me at first, just because I’ve never done it before,” Webster said. “I look at it as a new challenge this season and I’ll do whatever the team needs me to do. I’ve been working on my shooting a lot in the offseason because I tend to be a streaky shooter and I need to be more consistent now.”

Webster averaged 12 points a game last season and that total should go up this year with her at shooting guard. The offense revolves around Webster and center Carissa Triplett, who is 50 pounds lighter this season.

“They’ll be the foundation of our team, but the big key is who is going to step up and fill roles alongside them,” CP Coach Tom May said. “We expect a lot out of Alex this year and I know she can put up similar numbers to what Sarah did last year.

“We’re also expecting Alex to get eight to 10 rebounds a game and she’s very capable of that.”

Webster said she played with a lot of pressure her sophomore and junior years with colleges watching her. But she made her decision to attend Southern Mississippi last month.

“I want to finish my career on top and I can play relaxed now,” she said. “I can go out and have fun and just play my game.”

Webster wasn’t satisfied with her play last year, but she was still selected as a Junior All-Star. She didn’t score as much as she would have liked, but that was because she handled the ball 90 percent of the time.

“We’re freeing her up to do a lot more this season and revolving a lot of the offense around her,” May said. “You’ll see her numbers go up just because she won’t have all the ball-handling responsibilities this year.”

Crown Point had the region’s best backcourt last season with Webster and Zondor, but Webster will play with point guard Ashley Plumley this year. The team lost three starters in Zondor, Nikki Borys and Amanda Bernard as well as La’Kea Harvey who saw considerable time.

Despite that, the Bulldogs are off to a 2-0 start this year, beating Andrean and Hebron handily last week.

“Sarah and I played together for seven years so it’ll be weird for a while,” Webster said. “But I have complete faith in Ashley at the point and I am confident we have the players to replace the ones we lost last year.”

Webster’s athleticism makes her one of the area’s best defensive players despite her offense receiving most of the attention.

“My defense has gotten a lot better and it’s something I have learned to love,” she said. “You come to understand it’s just as important as scoring and I like the challenge of it.”

Webster is an emotional player who can excite her team and the crowd.

“It’s funny because I used to be pretty calm, but my adrenaline takes over,” Webster said. “There’s nothing like playing in Indiana because of the excitement and the atmosphere here. It’s something every player in the country should experience.”

Webster is outgoing and she has natural leadership qualities, being a team captain for the last three years.

“I tend not to follow people,” she said. “That’s just the way I have always been. I like to be a vocal person and I always try to motivate people.”

That along with her analytical approach to the game should suit her well in the future as she wants to teach and coach.
    

Reporter Annette VanDeCar can be reached at 648-3141 or by e-mail at avandecar@post-trib.com.