How many basketball players would take these statistics in a game: 24 points on 10-of-17 shooting, seven rebounds, six steals and three assists?

Quite a few, don't you think?

A local basketball player had these by halftime. This player finished with 39 points on 17-of-31 shooting, 11 rebounds, 14 steals, seven assists and five blocked shots.

Now before we go any further, the take here on political correctness is the same as Rush Limbaugh's. Political correctness, Limbaugh has said, is censorship.

If you want political correctness, quit reading. If you keep reading, you can't say you weren't warned.

You can count on three things with girls basketball.

One, if you are watching a junior varsity slopfest you just pray won't go into overtime because you want to get home by 10, it will, every time.

Two, girls basketball, compared to boys basketball, looks like it's being played in slow motion.

Three, there are just way too many turnovers in girls basketball.

You hear girls basketball coaches brag that this girl or that girl would hold her own playing against the guys.

Before this year, I witnessed one case where I believed a coach. Sheila McMillen, who played at Rochester a few years back, could hold her own on the court with guys - not all of them, but a lot of them. She now plays for Notre Dame.

Tuesday, I saw the second case. It's a case where this girl does not play the game in slow motion like her teammates, a case where this girl rarely, if ever, throws the ball away. If she does, it's because she delivers such a slick pass it bounces off an unsuspecting teammate's head.

Her name is Shanna Zolman.

Shanna (pronounced Shawna) is a 5-foot-9 freshman who starts at point guard for Wawasee's varsity basketball team. She turned in the almost quadruple double of 39 points, 11 rebounds, 14 steals, seven assists and five blocked shots in Wawasee's 71-59 Tuesday win over West Noble. Now West Noble is not Martinsville, but West Noble was a 3-0 team with two 20 points per game scorers in Jessica Ramey and Stacey Byers.

"We tried three different things on her defensively," West Noble coach Becky Younce said. "None of them worked. She is a phenomenal freshman, that's for sure."

Younce says this about a girl who turned 15 on Sept. 7.

Last summer Zolman was named Indiana's Outstanding Player of the Year in the 14 and under age division of AAU basketball.

We have had some good local players in recent years: Manchester's Megan Eckert, who's played varsity since her freshman year; Tippecanoe Valley's Julianne Tucker; Warsaw's Tiffany Ross and Whitko's Rachel Brown, to name a few.

It says here if you put Zolman in that group, right now as a freshman, Zolman is the best basketball player in in that group.

Now what is being written here is nothing new to Wawasee fans. They've known about Zolman since she played elementary and middle school ball.

She has breathed life into Wawasee's girls basketball program. Enough people show up that many actually have to sit above the railing. Several Wawasee students stand throughout the game, save for timeouts and halftime. When she misses, a loud moan of "Ohhhhh," ripples through the crowd.

Tuesday I saw Zolman play for the first time. I had heard the rumors of her greatness, but as former DePaul coach Ray Meyer said in Tuesday's Chicago Tribune, "I don't monkey around with rumors much."

There are no rumors here. Everything you hear about Zolman is true.

Let's come right out and say it: It's time to call Shanna Zolman up to the next level. What that level is, who knows. Will she win a Miss Basketball? That's not fair to hang that on her, but if she continues to work, continues to develop, continues to improve, you do not see how she can keep from winning it.

She is a fabulous freshman who plays the game with a flair.

She is a freshman, but she is called on to direct the team at point guard.

She is a freshman point guard who jumps at center court for the tip-off.

She dribbles the ball between her legs and behind her back. She lives in the passing lanes. At least seven times she either stole the ball or grabbed a defensive rebound, dribbled up the court and hit layups.

She delivers no-look passes, a la Larry Bird.

She is where the ball is. She has the gift.

Coach Kem Zolman, also her father, rested her with two minutes left in the third quarter. Wawasee led 53-37 at the time. She returned in the fourth quarter. With her on the bench, West Noble had trimmed the lead to 53-43. Two minutes into the fourth, with Zolman on the floor, the lead was up to 14 at 59-45.

And that coach's kid argument doesn't fly here. You know the one, the one that says the coach wants his kid to get the ball all the time.

You say sure, your All-Star Zolman scored 39 points, but she took 31 shots.

I say yes, but she hit 17 of those shots, which puts her at a 55 percent shooting percentage. I also say she still dished out seven assists.

How many girls on a high school team take 10 shots, hit even five and pass out seven assists in one game?

Not too many.

On this team, Shanna Zolman needs to get the ball all the time. She must get the ball all the time.

Saying Zolman gets the ball too much is like telling the Chicago Bulls to quit giving the ball to Michael Jordan so much and start giving Jud Buechler more touches.

Yeah, right.

Nearly every Chicago Cubs story last summer mentioned right fielder Sammy Sosa in the first three paragraphs. The same will probably hold true for Wawasee and Shanna Zolman. You can't avoid it. Sosa is the superstar. Zolman is the superstar.

When a freshman sets a school record five games into the varsity season, she's legit. Zolman's 39 points in a game at the most in Wawasee history. The previous record was Yen Tran's 36 against Northridge in the 1993-94 season.

When a freshman nearly records a triple-double when she's sick - as she was against West Noble - she's legit.

When a freshman is averaging 31.2 points five games into the season, she is legit.

She isn't perfect. Wawasee inbounded the ball with four seconds left in the first quarter of the West Noble game. Zolman was taking her time dribbling the ball up the court. She lost track of the clock and didn't get the ball to halfcourt. The buzzer sounded. She smacked the ball in disgust.

And no, she and the Warriors have not started their Northern Lakes Conference schedule, where Wawasee will play NorthWood and Warsaw rather than Westview and Fairfield.

And yes, she will have off-games.

The first time you see Wawasee play, you will know who Shanna Zolman is. You will know she is No. 24, because No. 24 draws the loudest cheers from Wawasee fans during the lineup introductions.

You will know because you will see No. 24 do things that no other girl on the same court will dream of doing.

Shanna Zolman

Game by game statistics

Game 1: Wawasee at Westview

Wawasee 52, Westview 30

22 points, 7 of 14 FG, 2 of 3 3FG, 6 of 8 FT, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals, 0 blocked shots, 1 turnover

Game 2: Wawasee at Elkhart Memorial

Elkhart Memorial 60, Wawasee 58

33 points, 11 of 21 FG, 4 of 9 3FG, 7 of 7 FT, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocked shots, 0 turnovers

Game 3: Fairfield at Wawasee

Wawasee 61, Fairfield 50

34 points, 13 of 20 FG, 3 of 5 3FG, 5 of 6 FT, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 9 steals, 1 blocked shots, 1 turnovers

Game 4: Wawasee at East Noble

Wawasee 53, East Noble 43

29 points, 11 of 20 FG, 1 of 2 3FG, 6 of 6 FT, 15 rebounds, 2 assists, 5 steals, 0 blocked shots, 0 turnovers

Game 5: West Noble at Wawasee

Wawasee 71, West Noble 59

39 points, 17 of 31 FG, 4 of 9 3FG, 1 of 2 FT, 11 rebounds, 7 assists, 14 steals, 5 blocked shots, 2 turnovers [[In-content Ad]]