BricksCenter
DaDaDa DaDaDa
February 28, 2021
21 Sports ... 1 Team ... WE ARE HOBART!
In 2002, American rapper Eminem released the song "Lose Yourself" as part of the soundtrack for the motion picture 8 Mile. In the opening stanza, Eminem asks the question:
"Look ... if you had one shot or one opportunity ...
To seize everything you ever wanted in one moment ...
Would you capture it, or just let it slip?"
The Brickies have been WORK WORK WORKing HARD to make the most of the opportunity to compete this winter ... particularly after seeing their classmates lose their opportunity last spring due to COVID. It's been an adventure, but one worth every moment because our kids have SHINED!! This week alone we saw SENIOR NIGHT moments, IHSAA SECTIONAL moments, and an IHSAA STATE FINALS moment all the way down in Indianapolis at the IUPUI Natatorium!
Lose yourself for a few minutes ... it's time for BricksCenter!
Diving
On Tuesday night, junior Ethan "Phenom" Ferba joined 19 other divers @ Valparaiso High School for the IHSAA Diving Regional to compete for a spot in Saturday's STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS! Ethan qualified for the regional competition after WINNING last week's IHSAA Sectional right here at HHS!! In order to advance to STATE, he needed to place in the TOP 8 @ the VAC (Valparaiso Aquatics Center).
After 5 dives, Ethan was not only in the top 8, but in the hunt for the championship! After 8 dives, the top few divers were going back & forth and he was still within reach! Once the water settled ... and all 11 dives had been completed ... Ethan fell just short of the title, but QUALIFIED for the IHSAA STATE FINALS with a 3rd PLACE FINISH!!! INCREDIBLE!!! In one the best (... I say the best) performances of his career, Ethan scored a whopping 457.50 points to punch his ticket to STATE for the 2nd year in a row!!
Saturday morning, competition began at 9AM down in Indy at the IUPUI Natatorium. At STATE, all 32 qualifiers get 5 dives. From there, 12 are cut and the top 20 scorers get 3 more ... and then only the top 16 advance to the finals and get 3 more dives. Last winter, Ethan performed well in completing all 5 of his initial dives, but finished smack dab in the middle of the 12 athletes who did not make the cut and finished 26th overall. On Saturday, not only did Ethan SHINE, but he COMPLETELY SEIZED THE MOMENT ... first advancing to the semifinals ... and then making it all the way to the FINALS by a mere 6 points!!! Against the BEST OF THE BEST in this state, Ethan finished all 11 dives ... scored 394.85 points ... and placed 16th overall!!! He did a GREAT JOB representing himself, our school, and this city on the state's biggest stage!
Overall, Ethan was PHENOMENAL this winter! He earned an NCC CHAMPIONSHIP, IHSAA SECTIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP, a 3rd place IHSAA REGIONAL FINISH, and advanced all the way to the STATE FINALS to place 16th IN THE STATE!! Not too shabby for a kid that has only been diving for 3 years ... INCREDIBLE!!
CONGRATULATIONS ETHAN ON ALL YOU'VE ACCOMPLISHED SO FAR! WE ARE VERY PROUD OF YOU! Congratulations also goes out to Coach Katie Rinas for all you've done to help guide, teach, and mentor Ethan on this journey!
#LICENSETODIVE
#CHAIRMANOFTHEBOARD
Ethan placed 3rd @ the IHSAA DIVING REGIONAL!
16th place @ the IHSAA STATE FINALS!!
Check out the video below of Ethan @ STATE! Thanks Coach Rinas for putting it together!
Basketball
Closing out the regular season with 4 games in 5 days is about as tough as it gets, but this winter has helped prepare the Brickies for ANYTHING ... and our boys know how to capture the moment and SHINE!!
On Tuesday, Kankakee Valley visited the Friendly City for the last Northwest Crossroads Conference game of the year ... one that had been postponed two different times this winter. Slow going in the 1st half by both squads kept the score low at halftime with the Kougars leading 20-11 at the break. Unfortunately, seemingly everything KV shot in the 2nd half went in. Combine that with the Brickies struggling to find their rhythm and it added up to a tough 57-36 loss.
Wednesday was SENIOR NIGHT for the Brickies. Back in mid-December, it seemed like we might never get here, but our boys literally weathered the storm ... finally played their first game in January ... and have stayed the course over the last 2 months to finish the season STRONG! Senior cagers Quinten White, Max Jancich and Fabian Salazar-Bernal ... along with cheerleaders Kelsey Black, Alyssa Candiano and Mary Daw ... were honored before warmups for the varsity game began ... and then it was GO TIME! Through the 1st 3 quarters, Hobart steadily built a comfortable 44-23 lead thanks to some lockdown D-D-D-DEFENSE and timely shooting ... and cruised over the final 8 minutes for an easy 69-30 VICTORY!! Jancich and junior Miki Djankovich led the Brickie attack with 15 points each. Junior Anthony Williams added 11 and Salazar-Bernal tallied 10 in the win.
Friday night, Hobart welcomed Porter County neighbor Wheeler for the last regular season home game of the year ... and it was a BATTLE!! The two teams traded baskets in a competitive 1st stanza and the Brickies claimed a small lead 14-10. In the 2nd quarter, someone put a lid over the Hobart basket and when Wheeler sunk a 3 right before the halftime buzzer sounded, our boys trailed 26-17 heading into the locker room. After some motivating words from Coach Brown, the Brickies came out ON A MISSION in the 3rd! Salazar-Bernal BURIED 3 3's in the period and Hobart played a SUFFOCATING full-court press to cage up the Bearcats and take a 36-31 lead into the final 8 minutes of play! Wheeler would make a push in the 4th, but ultimately the Brickies stayed in control and collectively made 8 of 11 FTs down the stretch to seal the WIN! Final score: Hobart 54, Wheeler 43!! Three Brickies scored in double figures ... Djankovich (13), Salazar-Bernal (11) and junior Jaydon Hence (11) ... but it was the TREMENDOUS EFFORT by the ENTIRE TEAM on both ends of the floor earned this one!!
On Saturday, the Brickies headed north of Hwy 6 to face Lake Station for the regular season finale. In another GRIND-IT-OUT NAIL-BITER, Hobart closed out the regular season in STYLE with a THRILLING 2-point victory over the Eagles!! Four Brickies tallied double-figures in the 56-54 win ... Williams led the way with 14 points and our trio of seniors - Jancich, Salazar-Bernal & White - all scored 10 to help Hobart secure their 3rd WIN IN A ROW!!! GREAT JOB BOYS!!
Talk about capturing the moment, the Brickies closed out the regular season on a 3-game winning streak and our boys seem to be playing their best basketball at just the right time! IHSAA Sectional play begins Tuesday over at Chesterton with Hobart taking on Portage in the 5:30 game. Tickets can be purchased online at the following link:
https://public.eventlink.com/tickets?t=655&p=4346
GOOD LUCK BOYS!! DON'T STOP NOW!!
#MAKETHEMBELIEVE
Gymnastics
Gymnastics is a sport where you practice ... and practice ... and practice ... to achieve everything you wanted in one moment. Those moments ... whether on the beam, vault, bars or floor ... really come down to focus, training and belief.
The Hobart Lady Brickies have been capturing those moments all winter long! Our girls have improved SO MUCH ... averaging over 100 as a team for the season ... and putting the Brickies back on the map of contenders in NWI - an area known throughout Indiana for tremendous gymnastics (NWI schools have claimed 20 of the last 30 state championships - wow).
On Tuesday, the Lady Brickies hosted state ranked Lake Central and celebrated SENIOR NIGHT and 4-year letter-winner Nataly Ponce. Competing in the Frank Kurth Fieldhouse for the last time this winter, Hobart was simply AMAZING!! Our girls put together their BEST ... I say their BEST ... performance of the season and totaled 106.350 points as a team!! The 106 was over 2 points higher than their previous best score this winter - UNBELIEVABLE!! Lake Central scored 110.150 to earn the "W", but the 106 by Hobart is believed to be one of their highest scores since the 2004 State Championship squad!! What a performance!!
Here's how our girls performed on Tuesday:
Junior Aisha Arias: 2nd on Floor & Bars, 5th on Vault & Beam, 2nd all-around with 36.700
Sophomore Haylie Skripac: 4th on Vault, 6th on Bars, 8th on Floor, 9th on Beam, 8th all-around at 35.150
Sophomore Daeges Morgan: 7th on Floor & Bars, 10th on Vault, 12th on Beam, 9th all-around with 34.000
Sophomore Sarah Romeo: 8th on Floor, 10th on Beam, 11th on Vault, 12th on Bars, 12th all-around with a 32.650
Senior Nataly Ponce: 6th on Vault with a 9.000
On Saturday, Hobart traveled to Chesterton High School to compete in the IHSAA Sectional! Going against 6 teams ranked in the top-10 of Indiana ... including 3-time defending state champion Chesterton ... Coach Crespo made the understatement of the year when she said, "This sectional is stacked". Still, the Lady Brickies performed the best they could versus arguably the most difficult sectional field in any sport in Indiana. Of the 10 schools competing, Hobart placed 7th overall with a team score of 104.70 ... ahead of LaPorte, Lowell, and New Prairie. Valparaiso won their 25th championship and 1st since 2016 after barely edging Lake Central and Chesterton for 1st place.
CONGRATULATIONS TO COACH CRESPO AND OUR GIRLS FOR SUCH AN AMAZING SEASON!
THANK YOU for representing H-town so well ladies! WE ARE VERY PROUD OF YOU!!
#STICKIT
JROTC
CONGRATULATIONS to LTC Scott Buhmann and our entire team for such an AMAZING performance!
#CHARACTER-DESIRE-COMMITMENT-TEAMWORK
Bowling
CONGRATULATIONS to sophomore Eve Klawiter and junior Isabella Ciesielski for making the 2020-2021 All-Conference Team! In order to secure a spot on the All-Conference team, these Lady Brickies had to place in the top 7 in the Lakeshore Region!
GREAT JOB GIRLS!!
#STRIKEAPOSE
Sports Schedule This Week
No Events Scheduled
Tuesday
Boys Basketball vs. Portage (IHSAA Sectional @ Chesterton)
Wednesday
No Events Scheduled
Thursday
No Events Scheduled
Friday
Boys Basketball @ IHSAA Sectional Semifinals (*If advance Tuesday)
Gymnastics @ IHSAA Regional
Saturday
Boys Basketball @ IHSAA Sectional Finals (*If advance Friday)