With Super Bowl LVII (... that's 57 for all of us that don't know Roman numerals very well) coming to Arizona in 7 days, I wanted to bring in a Super Bowl CHAMPION for some inspiring words this week. Hall of Fame running back & former Dallas Cowboy Emmitt Smith ... still the NFL's All-Time Leading Rusher with 18,355 yards dispersed over 15 seasons ... knew a thing or two about competition. I really like his take on it:

“I may win and I may lose, but I will never be defeated.”

Emmitt played a pivotal role in 3 Super Bowl Champion teams with Dallas in the 1990s, so he knew a thing or two about winning as well. Still, his quote on COMPETITION should resonate with the Brickies. Our student athletes were ALL IN this past week with the IHSAA Wrestling Regional, the IHSAA Girls Swimming & Diving Sectional (both taking place at HHS) and the IHSAA Girls Basketball Sectional. What can we say other than it was FEBRUARY MADNESS!! In the MADNESS, there were WINS and there were LOSSES, but with the EFFORT our Brickies put forth and the PRIDE they battled with, WE were not defeated :).

How 'bout them Brickies!!!! ... it's time for BricksCenter!

On Saturday, Hobart High School once again hosted the IHSAA Wrestling Regional for the 6th consecutive year ... and it was AWESOME!

The Brickies brought competitors in 12 out of 14 weight classes ... each one of them competing for a shot at advancing to next weekend's semi-state hosted by East Chicago Central High School. In order to advance, a wrestler must finish in the top 4 places. There was a lot on the line for our boys Saturday. Not only were they individually trying to advance to next weekend, but also collectively compete for a team title ... a race that came down to 3 teams ... Portage, 4-time defending champion Merrillville, and our Brickies. Here we go!

Brackets for each weight class included 8 competitors - the top 4 place winners from last weekend's sectional competitions at East Chicago and Portage. A win in the 1st round would guarantee a trip to the semi-state! On Saturday, 9 of the 11 Brickies in action WON their 1st round match and advanced to next weekend!! One of the most exciting of the day was in the first round when Brickie sophomore heavyweight Luke Juris UPSET the #1 seed from the East Chicago Sectional with a PIN less than halfway through the 2nd period!!

With 9 grapplers competing in the semifinals, Hobart had 5 WINNERS who advanced to the championship round!!

Probably the BIGGEST W of the day for Hobart came from sophomore Seth Aubin under the spotlight in the championship match for 113-lbs. Seth went up 6-4 early in the final period and literally held on as the final seconds ticked away to WIN!!! Classmate Aidan Costello matched Aubin as he controlled the action from the 2nd period on to WIN the 170-lb TITLE!!

It was a GREAT DAY to be a BRICKIE ... SO EXCITING ... WHAT A PERFORMANCE by our boys!!

9 Semi-state qualifiers ... 2 REGIONAL CHAMPIONS! Merrillville actually crowned the most individual champions on the day with 7 ... half the weight classes ... and will send 11 on to next week's semistate to earn their 5th consecutive team championship with 209 points. The Brickies finished 2nd overall with 138 points ahead of 3rd place Portage (136.5 points). WHAT A DAY!

Here are your Brickie SEMI-STATE QUALIFIERS:

113 - sophomore Seth Aubin - REGIONAL CHAMPION

120 - sophomore Daniel Mata - Regional RUNNER-UP

126 - sophomore Daniel McGill - 3rd place

145 - senior Devin Wible - Regional RUNNER-UP

152 - senior Owen Gniadek - 3rd place

170 - sophomore Aidan Costello - REGIONAL CHAMPION

195 - junior Jake Sparks - Regional RUNNER-UP

220 - junior Aidan Olague - 3rd place

285 - sophomore Luke Juris - 4th place

The next stop on the #BrickRODE is the East Chicago SEMI-STATE!

To quote former White Sox announcer Ken 'Hawk' Harrelson, "DON'T STOP NOW BOYS!!!"

#BRICKRODE

Girls

The Lady Brickies entered IHSAA Sectional play down at Lowell High School on Tuesday night with something to prove. 2015 is the last time our girls advanced in the post-season. In fact, it was our current head coach, Alaina Richter, who buried a 3-pointer at the buzzer in that game to lift the Lady Bricks to a thrilling 37-36 victory! This winter, Hobart finished the regular season with their highest win total since that 2015 squad (13) and were looking to dance a little just like Coach Richter did 8 years ago.

Their opponent in the quarterfinals was NCC rival Kankakee Valley ... a team that defeated our girls in a nail-biter 53-52 back on December 9th. Early on, there were clearly some post-season jitters from both teams, but everyone settled in a bit and Hobart led 13-12 after 8 minutes. In a very competitive 2nd quarter, the Kougars took the lead and tried to push the margin to double-figures, but our girls ANSWERED and trailed just 22-24 at the break. In the 3rd quarter, play continued at a FRANTIC pace for both teams and ended in an 11-11 tie, which meant it was 33-35 KV with 1 period remaining. Junior Emma Ortiz stole the ball from KV in the opening moments and was fouled while scoring a game-tying layup! Her free-throw put Hobart up 34-33!! The Lady Brickies continued to play STIFLING D-D-D-DEFENSE and thanks to some HUGE 3-pointers from Ortiz and classmate Jesse Neace, our girls held a 51-39 lead with 4 minutes to go!!! The Kougars battled back to cut the deficit down to just 51-46, but that would be as close as they would get as Hobart hit their FTs down the stretch and secured an EXCITING 57-46 VICTORY!!! Senior Asia Donald had another monster double-double with 27 points and 13 rebounds! Neace (14) & Ortiz (12) also notched double-figures in the scoring column and were tenacious on defense the entire night to help secure the W!!

Friday night, Hobart was back down in Lowell for the IHSAA Sectional Semifinals. This time, the opponent was Portage ... a team the Lady Brickies defeated 60-54 back on November 29th. The Indians had a different game plan this time around - an extended zone defense to try and slow down the Hobart offense. It worked, but the Lady Brickies played some STELLAR D-D-D-DEFENSE of their own!! In a competitive first half, Portage led 24-21. The game continued to go back-and-forth throughout much of the 2nd half ... each time the Indians tried to build a cushion, Hobart BATTLED back to stay within reach. Unfortunately, some back-breaking 3's from Portage gave them just enough of an advantage midway through the final period and they hit their FTs down the stretch to close out a hard fought 56-41 win. It was a tough out for our girls, but it doesn't take anything away from the GREAT SEASON they allowed us to watch unfold over the last 4 months!! Donald scored 18 points in her final game for the Lady Brickies ... Ortiz added 8, Neace 7 and junior Cailey Weber chipped in 6.

The 2022-2023 Lady Brickies finished 14-11 ... the most wins in a season since 2014-2015!! They also advanced in the IHSAA Sectional for the first time since that 2014-2015 team did!! All seasons are like a roller-coaster with highs and lows, but the Lady Brickies STAYED THE COURSE and ALWAYS represented H-town with PRIDE! When our girls look back on the 2022-2023 season, they should smile knowing that they gave it everything they had and left it all out there on the court.

THANK YOU to our seniors - Asia Donald & Niko Latinovich for two great careers in purple & gold ... and to Coach Richter and her staff for a memorable winter!!

#SHEGOTGAME

Boys

On Thursday night, the Brickies welcomed the Kankakee Valley Kougars to The Friendly City for a HUGE Northwest Crossroads Conference game. Each team entered the contest with just 1 loss in conference play ... this would decide who would stay within reach of 1st place Munster. KV came out firing on all cylinders in the 1st quarter and jumped out to an 18-6 lead. Our boys - as they have done all year - BATTLED through the 2nd & 3rd quarters playing the bigger Kougar lineup even and looking to get within striking distance during the final period!! Just when it looked like the Brickies were going to make a run, KV responded with one of their own and then closed out the game making 15/20 FTs to earn the 63-41 win. In a game that was more competitive than the final score might indicate, sophomore Felix Lopez led Hobart with 15 points. Senior Vonzell Strayhorne scored 8 and sophomore Aidan Leonard added 7 points in the loss.

The Brickies are now 6-9 overall and 1-2 in NCC play. A road trip to Hanover Central on Tuesday and a home date with Andrean Friday dot the schedule landscape for Hobart this week. LET'S GO GUYS! WEEEEE ... WEEEEE BELIEEEEEEVE ... WEEEE BELIEEEEVE THAT ... you know the rest :)

#RISETOTHEOCCASION

Well folks ... this was SECTIONAL WEEK for the Lady Brickies! The Hobart High School Aquatics Center was the site for the IHSAA Sectional prelims and finals and all I can say is THESE GIRLS WERE ON FIRE!!!! (Thank you Alicia Keys)

The IHSAA organizes it's sectional competition into 2 sessions ... preliminary swimming heats are held on Thursday night to determine consolation and final races, which take place on Saturday afternoon. The diving competition occurs entirely on Saturday with each girl diving 8 times in the morning ... and then three more that afternoon to reach a total of 11 dives for their score. There are no "regionals" or "semi-state" in swimming, competitors that either place 1st in their event or achieve a qualifying time advance directly to the STATE FINALS held next weekend in Indy. For diving, the top 4 scorers advance to a mid-week regional ... also hosted by VHS ... and the top 8 from regionals move on to STATE.

Ok, now that we've got the basics ... how did the Lady Brickies do? AMAZING!!!

Out of 12 teams in attendance, Hobart placed 6th OVERALL with a team total of 116 points!

Chesterton won 7 of the 12 events to claim the title ... barely outdistancing rival Valparaiso 519.5-500. WOW!

Some highlights from the swimming portion of the 2-day competition include sophomore Brogan McDonald dropping nearly 10 seconds off her previous lifetime best in the 500 free ... the Lady Brickie 200 Medley Relay composed of sophomore Peyton Leonard, junior Marie White, freshman Cassie Cohen & McDonald finishing on the podium in 8th ... the 200 Free Relay also finishing 8th behind strong performances by McDonald, Cohen, White & sophomore Evangeline Clay ... and the Hobart 400 Free Relay team earning a 7th place finish with Leonard, senior Hailey Blood and juniors Yola Fritz & Sydney Johnston dropping 7 seconds for a season best time!! In fact, out of 23 opportunities spread out over 11 swimming events at Thursday's prelims, our girls hit a LIFETIME BEST in 16!! INCREDIBLE!!!

On the diving board ... where the Lady Brickies have SHINED all year ... senior Daeges Morgan qualified for the DIVING REGIONAL on Tuesday @ Mishawaka High School after placing 3rd in the 1-meter diving competition!! Her score this year (372.7) was nearly 100 points higher than a year ago (281.9) ... UNBELIEVABLE!! This will be her 2nd straight trip to the REGIONAL in just 2 years diving! Seniors Gabby Tomich & Maci Luchene were also fantastic finished 11th and 14th!

What a PHENOMENAL performance by the Lady Brickies! Legendary basketball coach John Wooden used to say, "Be at your best when your best is needed." MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

GREAT JOB GIRLS! YOU MAKE US VERY PROUD!!

Here are results from the IHSAA Sectional Finals on Saturday:

200 yd Medley Relay - 8th place = McDonald, White, Cohen & Leonard

200 yd Free - 12th place = McDonald

200 yd IM - 15th place = White

1 M Diving - 3rd = Morgan (REGIONAL QUALIFIER), 11th = Tomich, 14th = Luchene

100 yd Fly - 13th = White, 14th = Cohen

500 yd Free - 13th = McDonald

200 yd Free Relay - 8th = McDonald, White, Cohen & Clay

100 yd Breast - 12th = Cohen

400 yd Free Relay - 7th = Blood, Fritz, Johnston & Leonard

#GIRLSJUSTWANNAHAVEFUN

Boys

The boys had zero meets this past week due to the girls competing in the sectional. They will DIVE into their own IHSAA Sectional competition in about 10 days over at Valparaiso High School. GOOD LUCK BOYS!!

#LETSHEARITFORTHEBOYS

On Thursday last week, the Lady Brickies hit the road for LaPorte county to join 5 other teams at LaPorte High School for competition! Although Hobart did not factor into the team scoring, the two individuals there representing H-town MADE US PROUD!! Senior Haylie Skripac SHINED BRIGHT with a 1st place finish on the Bars!! She also scored 4th place on both the Vault & Floor and 6th on Beam to end up 4th in the All-Around as an individual!! AWESOME!! Sophomore Elizabeth Crespo joined Haylie in the Slicer Fieldhouse and continued to show steady improvement in her scores which landed her 8th on the Beam, 10th on the Vault and 11th on the Floor!! GREAT JOB!!

Next up for our Lady gymnasts is a short ride to Portage on Monday for their only competition of the week! GOOD LUCK LADIES!!

#STICKIT

Congratulations to our January Brickie Athletes of the Month! January was FULL of outstanding performances from our Bricks ... THANK YOU to our coaches for all of the nominations!!

Seth Aubin - Wrestling

Brogan McDonald - Girls Swimming

Jesse Neace - Girls Basketball

Vonzell Strayhorne - Boys Basketball

Keep working hard, Brickies!

#BEEXCELLENTONPURPOSE

Monday

Gymnastics @ Portage

9th Boys Basketball vs. Illiana Christian

Tuesday

Daeges Morgan @ IHSAA Diving Regional

Boys Basketball @ Hanover Central

Wednesday

9th Boys Basketball @ LaPorte

Thursday

No Events Scheduled

Friday

Boys Basketball vs. Andrean *

Saturday

Wrestling @ IHSAA Semi-State (Hosted by East Chicago High School)

* = NCC Opponent