Posen’s Brooke Ciarkowski nears 1,000 points for career
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During her varsity career, Brooke Ciarkowski has always been a team player.
Whether she's being asked to carry the scoring load for her team, take the ball up the court or rebound, Ciarkowski has been willing to do whatever is necessary to help her team succeed.
But tonight, the 5-foot-6 senior guard from Posen will join some exclusive company for an impressive individual accomplishment.
Ciarkowski is just five points away from scoring 1,000 for her career and will more than likely reach the mark tonight when the Vikings play at Hillman High School.
When she reaches 1,000 points, Ciarkowski will become the third Posen girls basketball player to reach the mark in the last four years. Jenna Hincka reached the milestone in 2016 and Cami LaTulip did it last season.
"It would feel amazing," Ciarkowski said of the accomplishment. Our school is so close knit and so supportive (so) for me to get there at our school would be amazing."
Since her first days on Posen's varsity squad, Ciarkowski has always found a way to make an impact. She joined the team as an eighth grader as a highly touted shooter and proved quickly that she belonged by averaging seven points a game.
Since then, she's transformed into a jack-of-all trades for the Vikings, willing to adapt her game and do whatever is asked of her on the court.
The latest example came last in a win over Hale last Friday. An injury forced Posen coach Karl Momrik to put Ciarkowski at center and she responded with a double-double, scoring 16 points and adding a career-high 23 rebounds.
"As a coach, you couldn't ask for a better, more respected kid," Momrik said. "She works as hard as any player I've ever coached."
Hard work has been a hallmark of Ciarkowski's career and Ciarkowski said the commitment to hard work has helped her adapt her game. From her earliest days as a shooter off the bench to her last few seasons as one of Posen's top scorers and ball handlers, Ciarkowski has shown the ability to do just about everything.
Her versatility shined through last season as she averaged 13.8 points, 4.8 assists and an area-leading 4.3 steals per game.
"(It's changed) a lot because in the beginning I was a shooter. (Since then) my game has totally changed. I've become more of a ball handler and I'm driving the ball and rebounding more," Ciarkowski said of her overall game.
As Posen's team captain this season, Ciarkowski having another solid year statistically and is among the area leaders in both points and rebounds at 13.2 points and 9.2 rebounds per game. But more than that, Ciarkowski is looked to by her younger teammates for leadership and advice on how to approach the ins-and-outs of basketball.
"It's kind of cool (being the veteran). I was used to playing with upperclassmen and now (as a senior) the focus is on the freshmen and teaching them," Ciarkowski said.
Hitting the 1,000 point mark has been a long time coming for Ciarkowski, who played with both Hincka and LaTulip when they reached the milestone.
Ciarkowski was on the floor last February when LaTulip sank a free throw to record her 1,000th point in front of a home crowd. Two years before that, it was Ciarkowski who dished the ball to Hincka in the right corner and Hincka drained the open shot to hit 1,000 points in a win at home.
Like Ciarkowski, Hincka joined Posen's varsity team as an eighth grader and Ciarkowski said her former teammate has served as an inspiration.
"For sure, she's someone that I looked up to," Ciarkowski said. "She was just like me, starting in the eighth grade."
Ciarkowski's achievement is the culmination of nearly five seasons of work, but it also comes during a crucial point in Posen's season. After a slow start to the season, the Vikings have turned things around as of late, winning four of their last six games and taking hold of first place in the North Star League's Little Dipper division.
Ciarkowski--who has been a part of three league division titles and a district title during her career--would love Posen to make another postseason run and believes the Vikings could contend for another district championship in March.
"I think in the beginning we were trying to get comfortable," Ciarkowski said. "We could be a real threat."