As nice as it would be to re-enter the world around us slowly after a 5 day break, Brickie winter sports were in action 4 out of 6 days this past week and our kids were FANTASTIC! Girls hoops and our swimming & diving teams played the role of host while wrestling and boys basketball had the wheels on the bus going 'round and 'round! H-town saw a little bit of everything over the last 6 days ... concluding with wrestling at Lake Central, a diving invite near Kokomo (... Aruba, Jamaica, oooh I wanna take ya) and an NCAA College football game!

The countdown to Winter Break is 13 school days ... the countdown to BricksCenter ends now!

Thursday night, the Bricks opened the 2022-2023 season on the road at Hammond Morton ... that's right, they were wrestling in the Governor's Mansion! Out of 14 matches wrestled, our boys won 12 and coasted to a DOMINANT 61-11 VICTORY!! Perhaps the most impressive "W" of the night was by sophomore Luke Juris, who conquered a titan by a 1-0 score in a THRILLER!!

On Saturday, the Hobart grapplers headed west on the BrickRode to St. John ... the destination was Lake Central High School for the Harvest Classic! This was just the second meet of the season for these guys and with area powerhouse programs like Portage and Lake Central competing ... along with the monster from Mishawaka (Penn High School) ... our boys were put to the test! After over a month of practice, the Brickies were hungry (... isn't that always the case for wrestlers?) and competed extremely well! Sophomore Aidan Costello ... a 2022 state qualifier last winter ... WON the 170-lb TITLE with a PIN at the 4:46 mark on the clock! Hobart also got a 2nd place finish from senior Devin Wible (132) and a quartet of 3rds from junior Jake Sparks (195) & sophomores Seth Aubin (113), Daniel Mata (120) and Daniel McGill (126)! Overall, the Brickies finished with 183.0 team points to place 4th in the 14-team field! Penn won the overall title with a team total of 265 points ... Portage was 2nd and the host Lake Central Indians were 3rd - just 4.5 pts ahead of the Bricks.

Here is the breakdown by weight-class for those who made the medal stand:

113 - sophomore Seth Aubin - 3rd

120 - sophomore Daniel Mata - 3rd

126 - sophomore Daniel McGill - 3rd

132 - junior Kaden Miller - 7th

138 - senior Devin Wible - 2nd

145 - sophomore Cole Weber - 6th

152 - sophomore Dominic Rivera - 7th

170 - sophomore Aidan Costello - CHAMPION

182 - senior Alan Turich - 8th

195 - junior Jake Sparks - 3rd

220 - junior Aidan Olague - 6th

285 - sophomore Luke Juris - 7th

The 1st TWWWOOOOOOOOO stops on the 2022-2023 #BRICKRODE were good ones. Next week the Brickies host Lowell for the first NCC dual meet of the year and then head to Merrillville for the Tom Cameron Invite. Looks like a great week to be a wrestler since there are once again TWWWOOOOOOOO chances to compete! LET'S GO BRICKS!

#BRICKRODE

Girls

On Tuesday, Hobart hosted Portage in non-conference action. It was a chance for the Lady Brickies to keep the momentum going after starting the season 6-0. The Lady Brickies jumped out to an early lead thanks to some hot shooting and tough D-D-D-DEFENSE ... led by double figures most of the contest ... and held off every comeback attempt the Lady Indians tried to mount on their way to a hard fought 60-54 VICTORY!! Senior Asia Donald netted a game-high 30 points to go along with her 9 rebounds and 4 steals! Classmate Niko Latinovic also reached double figures in the scoring column with 14 and matched Asia on the boards with 9 in the win!

Thursday night, it was TOP 10 SHOWDOWN in the Northwest Crossroads Conference as #8 Hobart hosted the #4-ranked Munster Mustangs. This one was definitely worth the price of admission!! Talk about two heavyweights going toe-to-toe ... the Lady Bricks scorched the nets over the first 8 minutes for a 26-10 lead!! Munster battled back in the 2nd quarter and cut the advantage to just 3 at 37-34 heading into the break. The Lady 'Stangs continued their hot shooting and relentless 1-3-1 zone defense to surge ahead 56-45 with just one quarter remaining. Our girls regrouped and charged back to within 2 at 54-56 with a 9-0 run to start the 4th!! Unfortunately, Munster was able to make just enough plays down the stretch and hung on for a 66-61 win. It was an INCREDIBLE game with both teams giving it their all. A tough loss for the Lady Bricks, but one that will no doubt help them down the road. Donald had a monster double-double with 33 points and 18 rebounds. Junior guard Jesse Neace added 12 points with 3 rebounds and 3 assists in the loss.

The Lady Brickies are currently 7-1 on the season and 0-1 in NCC play. The wheels on the bus will go round & round this upcoming week as our girls travel to Illiana Christian and Kankakee Valley for 2 games in 3 days. LET'S DO THIS GIRLS!!!

#SHEGOTGAME

Boys

With only 1 game on the slate the past week, Hobart was ALL-IN on Wednesday night at South Central! The Satellites entered the contest at 1-0 ... the goal for our boys was to add another "L" to the spelling of their mascot :). In a VERY competitive 1st half of play, the Brickies clung to a 2-point lead heading into the locker room at 26-24. Coach Butcher must have delivered a motivating halftime speech because the Bricks were MAGNIFICENT in the 3rd quarter!! LOCKDOWN D-D-D-DEFENSE paired with outstanding execution and timely shooting helped our boys BLOW OPEN a close game to lead by 18 points (50-32) heading into the final stanza!! WOW!! Hobart cruised the rest of the way to a convincing 59-39 VICTORY!! The Brickies got great balance in scoring with sophomore Jayme Hairston leading the way with 15 points (on 5 made 3-pointers) ... junior Anthony Hnilo added 10 points ... and senior Keith Mullins tallied 9 points and 7 rebounds in the win!

Hobart is now 3-0 this winter and will play their first home contest of the year on Tuesday against Portage. DON'T STOP NOW BOYS!!

#BALLISLIFE

Girls

On Tuesday night, the Lady Brickies hosted an NCC double-dual meet with Kankakee Valley and Lowell for the 1st conference competition of the year. The Lady Brickies SHINED in front of a great crowd, but fell short on the scoreboard against both the Kougars (109-72) & Devils (115-69). Hobart scored 1st place finishes in two events ... senior Daeges Morgan won the 1-meter dive and sophomore Brogan McDonald won the 500 Free!

Here are results from Tuesday's NCC opener:

200 Medley Relay - 2nd = junior Marie White, sophomores McDonald & Evangeline Clay and freshman Cassie Cohen

200 Free - 2nd = McDonald, 7th = Clay

200 IM - 5th = junior Sydney Johnston, 6th = senior Hailey Blood

50 Free - 2nd = Cohen, 5th = White, 9th = freshman Mars Christopher

Diving - 1st = Morgan, 3rd = senior Gabby Tomich, 4th = freshman Kacey Fleming

100 Fly - 3rd = White, 5th = Blood

100 Free - 7th = sophomore Peyton Leonard, 8th = junior Yola Fritz, 9th = sophomore Nela Robles

500 Free - 1st = McDonald

200 Free Relay - 3rd = McDonald, Clay, Cohen & White

100 Back - 7th = Leonard, 8th = Clay

100 Breast - 2nd = Cohen, 6th = Fritz, 8th = Johnston

400 Free Relay - 5th = Blood, Johnston, Fritz & Leonard

Thursday night, Hobart was @ Knox High School for another meet. The Lady Brickies were AWESOME and literally left the Redskins in their WAKE ... winning 110-38! OUTSTANDING!!

The Lady Brickies are 1-2 on the season ... 0-2 in NCC action ... and will be back in the water on Thursday against Crown Point!

Boys

Tuesday's 1st conference meet of the season was coed as our boys joined the girls in facing KV & Lowell. Seeing as how this was also our 1st overall meet of the winter, the Brickies were anxious to compete! Much like the girls, our boys SHINED! Hobart got a victory from senior Eian Ferba in 1 meter diving and some OUTSTANDING performances all around from classmate Owen Finch (2nd in both 100 Fly & 500 Free) and sophomore Christian Kertz (2nd in 50 & 100 Free)! Ultimately, both the Devils and Kougars had too much depth against our mighty 14 swimmers & divers and edged us out 104-73 & 92-81. Lots of potential in this group ... they are clearly putting in the WORK WORK WORK to be their best!

Here are some results from Tuesday's meet:

200 Medley Relay - 2nd = sophomore Christian Kertz, senior Owen Finch, junior Brett Herrin and freshman Jaden Cano

200 Free - 3rd = freshman Lu Cohen, 4th = freshman Dylan Whetstone, 6th = sophomore Antonio Mandich

200 IM - 3rd = Herrin

50 Free - 2nd = Kertz, 5th = junior Ayden Witting, 8th = Mandich

Diving - 1st = senior Eian Ferba, 2nd = junior Ethan Robles, 8th = senior Jose Torres

100 Fly - 2nd = Finch, 6th = Cano

100 Free - 2nd = Kertz, 5th = Witting, 7th = junior Travis Balding

500 Free - 2nd = Finch

200 Free Relay - 3rd = Finch, Witting, Kertz & Herrin

100 Back - 4th = Whetstone, 5th = Cano

100 Breast - 6th = Herrin, 7th = Cohen, 9th = Balding

400 Free Relay - 3rd = Witting, Cano, Cohen & Whetstone

Thursday's meet @ Knox was also coed and our boys were able to match the Lady Brickies with a DOMINANT VICTORY! The scoreboard showed Hobart 123, Knox 36 when it was all said and done. AWESOME!!

The Brickies are 1-2 on the season and 0-2 in NCC action ... they will join the girls against Crown Point on Thursday. LET'S GOOOOOOO!!!

#JUSTKEEPSWIMMING

On Saturday, Hobart took 9 divers to Western High School near Kokomo to compete in their 1st 11-dive meet of the season. In diving, dual meets are only 6 dives, but once the post-season begins, everything involves making 11 dives ... so getting some experience early in the year should prove beneficial when February and March role around.

Oh ya ... and the Brickies finished 2nd out of 8 schools competing!! Morgan placed 3rd among the girls and both Ferba (5th) and Robles (6th) made their way to the podium for the boys! WHAT A PERFORMANCE!!

#BOARDOFDIRECTORS

Congratulations to our November Brickie Athletes of the Month!

Joanna Cantu - Girls Wrestling

Nikolina Latinovic - Girls Basketball

Keith Mullins - Boys Basketball

Keep working hard, Brickies!

#EXCELLENTONPURPOSE

The ACB is an NCAA Division II game that matches a top team from the GLVC with a top team from the GMAC. This year's edition featured Truman State University from the GLVC (Great Lakes Valley Conference) and Tiffin University from the GMAC (Great Midwest Athletic Conference). Each team narrowly missed out on the NCAA Division II Playoffs, which earned them an invite to this one-of-a-kind experience! The teams arrived in town on Thursday night ... had a walk-through practice on Friday morning @ The Brickyard along with breakfast at the Hobart Community Center ... joined SCOH elementary students for some fun before lunch ... attended a banquet on Friday night ... enjoyed a Saturday breakfast at HHS ... and FINALLY got to play some football on Saturday afternoon!

It was sunny & cold @ The Brickyard, but those in attendance were treated to ONE HECKUVA FOOTBALL GAME!! Before kickoff, the SCOH's very own Diane Perigo delighted fans with a STUNNING rendition of the National Anthem! Truman State, who won the first two ACB's, led 21-7 at the break. Tiffin battled back in the 2nd half and scored to cut the deficit to just 1 at 28-27 with less than a minute to play! The Dragons went for two and were denied, which meant that the Bulldogs won their 9th game of the year and 3rd straight CHAMPIONSHIP!!

Many thanks to the City of Hobart, the SSCVA, the SCOH, and EVERYONE else who played a role in bringing this event to LIFE! It was AWESOME!!

#COLLEGE

9th Girls Basketball vs. Chesterton

9th Boys Basketball vs. Chesterton

Tuesday

Boys Basketball vs. Portage

Wednesday

Wrestling vs. Lowell *

Girls Basketball @ Illiana Christian

9th Boys Basketball vs. River Forest

Thursday

Girls Swimming & Diving @ Crown Point

Boys Swimming & Diving @ Crown Point

Girls Wrestling @ Illiana Christian

Friday

Girls Basketball @ Kankakee Valley *

Saturday

Wrestling @ Tom Cameron Invite (Hosted by Merrillville High School)

Girls & JV Boys Wrestling @ LaPorte Invite

* = NCC Opponent