Wauconda’s Tyler Tylka stuffs the stat sheet. He points to driveway games ‘building the competitor in me.’

Wauconda junior forward Tyler Tylka has found his stride.

Tylka had to get adjusted to being a primary contributor after an apprenticelike sophomore season, when he mostly watched a senior-laden team win 25 games and the Northern Lake County Conference title.

“It was a big change at first because with the COVID year and then last year, I hadn’t played a full-intensity basketball game in a long time,” he said. “I was a late bloomer athletically too. But now I’m in a groove.”

He certainly is. The 6-foot-4 Tylka began the week averaging 7.9 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.9 blocks — all team highs — while scoring 7.4 points per game for the Bulldogs (11-9, 4-4).

It was all on display in Wauconda’s win against Woodstock North on Dec. 27, when he had 17 points, 11 rebounds, four assists, four blocks and two steals.

“He impacts the game in a lot of ways besides just scoring — even little things like bringing other bigs out on him to stretch the floor and getting into the right lanes in transition,” Wauconda coach Ty Weidner said. “He never wants to come off the floor.”

The same could be said about Tylka year-round. He’s a high-level baseball player as a pitcher and third baseman. Between the two sports, he has little downtime, but he derives benefits in each endeavor from his cross-training.

Tylka noted the flexibility and stretching that are essential for a pitcher also are important in basketball, and his weight training regimen begun in earnest for baseball is paying dividends this season.

“I knew if I was going to become the baseball player I ultimately want to become, I had to put a big focus in the weight room,” he said. “And in basketball, grabbing contested rebounds has been easier, and I’m stronger in the lane. Competing at anything is fun.”

That competitive spirit surfaced in a win against Round Lake in early December. Weidner had reminded the team before the game that the Bulldogs hadn’t produced a double-digit rebounding performance this season, and Tylka took the challenge to heart. He grabbed nine rebounds over the first three quarters.

However, Weidner dashed Tylka’s hopes by pulling the starters for the final quarter after the Bulldogs had built a comfortable lead. In the heat of the moment, Tylka said he wasn’t pleased.

“I remember that vividly because as I went through the game, I could tell I had a bunch of rebounds,” he said. “Ever since then, my mindset has been to get 10. That stuck with me.”

Tylka’s inner fire was homegrown. He spent many hours playing two-on-two games with his older sister Allie, now a senior guard at Florida Atlantic; their older brother Drake; and their father Ron.

Tylka has fond memories of watching his sister dominate opponents during her decorated career at Wauconda, but the driveway pickup games weren’t always overly friendly.

“That must have driven my parents crazy because we were so competitive and we challenged each other all the time,” Allie Tylka said. “He’s grown so much since then. Now his idea of fun is going to work out with his friends.”

As Tyler Tylka looked back at his sophomore season, when he was asked whether he’d prefer to see minimal time on the varsity team or major minutes on the sophomore team, he mentioned those driveway games.

“I wanted to take the challenge of getting better versus older players,” he said. “It was an easy choice, and it goes back to those games building the competitor in me.”

Steve Reaven is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.