Seibert’s sustained success
Bulldogs overcame late start and rare loss to win another state title
In many respects, Chris Seibert has continued to absorb the scope of what Crown Point accomplished.
After all, winning a state title, which the Bulldogs did in Class 4A this season, is anything but commonplace.
Since Crown Point won back-toback championships in 1984 and 1985, only Lake Central in 1994 and Marquette in Class 1A in 2018 and 2019 had done so among teams from Northwest Indiana.
Until the Bulldogs (25-1) capped their remarkable — and unique — season with a 44-34 victory against Brownsburg in the state championship game on Feb. 27.
“It’s still kind of surreal,” Seibert said. “Overall, I’m just happy for the kids. I’m happy their hard work was rewarded. I’m happy for the assistant coaches. I’m so proud to be part of this program.
“The texts, emails, calls from past players and coaches, community members — to see how the community has embraced us, it’s been a special time.”
In his sixth season at Crown Point, Seibert, the 2020-21 Post-Tribune Girls Basketball Coach of the Year, led the breakthrough for the program’s third title. Expectations were high for the Bulldogs, who have gone 79-3 the past three seasons, with regional and semistate appearances the previous two. And he helped them maintain an even keel.
“Everyone always tells him, ‘Your team is bound to win this,’ or ‘Your team is ranked that,’ “junior guard Alyvia Santiago said. “He’s the one who keeps us calm. He always tells us anything can happen. We’re so fortunate to be in this position.”
On the verge of opening the season against Bishop Noll, Crown Point called off its first five games due to the coronavirus pandemic. After eventually beginning with a win at LaPorte on Nov. 25 en route to an 8-0 record, the Bulldogs lost 53-49 to eventual Class 3A state champion Silver Creek on Jan. 2.
Crown Point had gone undefeated in two consecutive regular seasons. That loss snapped a 56-game regular-season winning streak since a 38-32 setback against Chesterton on Jan. 19, 2018.
But the Bulldogs used that result to their advantage.
“It was beneficial to be able to sit down the kids, watch the film and say, ‘This is where we need to get better,’ “Seibert said. “It was a wake-up call and refocused them.
“We focused more on ourselves instead of our opponents — our opponents were changing because of COVID. So we focused more on our ourselves, what we could do, what adjustments we could make to improve, to make sure it didn’t happen again.”
Indeed, the Bulldogs didn’t lose again.
“Our coach definitely kept us all motivated,” junior forward Lilly Stoddard said. “He just reminded us about state being our goal. But at the same time, he reminded us we had to take it one game at a time.”
Seibert described Crown Point’s defense in the first half of the sectional final against Chesterton as the best he’s seen in his time with the team. The Bulldogs then faced early deficits in their last three games — the regional final against Penn, the semistate against Fort Wayne Carroll and the state final against Brownsburg — but responded in each instance.
“We were peaking at the right time and turning it on,” Seibert said. “But it was just day to day and focusing on the present instead of looking forward. We were so game to game this year because of COVID, you had to stop yourself from looking ahead.”
Junior guard Jessica Carroth
reflected on the path traveled by the Bulldogs, who could be the favorites to repeat next season.
“Coach Seibert, ever since my freshman year, he’s always pushed us to our limits and above our limits,” she said. “He always wants what’s best for us. He gets us to work harder than we think we can.
“Looking back, it’s all worth it. I have to thank him for pushing me. It makes me thankful to have him as a coach and to have him in my life.”
Seibert’s mother, Rin, died in August. She led Valparaiso University’s recreational sports for almost four decades before announcing her retirement in February 2020, and she was a respected longtime high school gymnastics judge.
“I’m just so grateful to be a part of the Crown Point community and so grateful we had a season,” Seibert said. “When my mom passed away, the outpouring of support from the basketball program and the community as a whole, you could not have asked for anything more.
“It was tough with her not being there. But doing something you love and focusing on basketball and being around such a great group of people, it makes the day-to-day stuff that much more gratifying.”