BricksCenter
DaDaDa DaDaDa
February 14, 2021
21 Sports ... 1 Team ... WE ARE HOBART!
We love sports because they bring out the best in us ... making us courageous, confident, and strong. We love sports because they teach us about perseverance, hard work, and the value of both winning and losing. The thrill of victory ... the agony of defeat ... unfolding right before our eyes. A full range of emotions worn on our proverbial sleeves as we sit on the edge of our seats trying to soak up every moment. Yep ... sports can do that to us ... that's why we love them so!
We could go on and on ... but the bottom line is this - we love sports ... and each time we cheer on the Brickies, all of those emotions come to the surface ... particularly this time of year! Swimming & Diving and Wrestling are DANCING in the IHSAA post-season with everything on the line ... Basketball and Gymnastics are making a late-season push to fine tune performances before their BIG DANCE begins!!
Happy Valentine's Day Brickie sports ... we love you!
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Swimming & Diving
The last 7 days have been special for our Lady Brickies in the water. The week began with a diving regional at Valparaiso and ended exactly where we hope every season ends ... the IUPUI Natatorium for the IHSAA State Finals!
GREAT JOB ALIVIA!! WE ARE PROUD OF YOU!
#LICENSETODIVE
On Friday, senior Emma "Doin It" Wright got back into the water at the IUPUI Natatorium where she won the 2019 IHSAA State Championship in the 100-yd Freestyle. Emma has been simply AMAZING throughout her entire career and was back representing H-town for the 4th consecutive year looking to finish her career in style.
In Friday night's preliminary heats, Emma was RIDICULOUS and qualified for the FINALS in BOTH the 50 and 100-yd Freestyle events!! As decorated as her time for the Lady Brickies has been, this is the 1st time she has qualified for the CHAMPIONSHIP race in both events!!
Emma's 1st race on Saturday was the 50-yd freestyle finals. In one of the fastest races in IHSAA history (3 girls finished under 23 seconds), Emma improved on both her time and place from a year ago and touched the pad in 23.32, good enough for 6th place in the STATE! In the 100 ... her last race as a Lady Brickie ... Emma gave it EVERYTHING she had, improved her time from the night before by 0.2 seconds, and placed 2nd overall in a new school record time of 49.93!! UNBELIEVABLE!!! Talk about finishing her career in style ... ALL-STATE in 2 events and a new school record! WOW!!
8-time NCC Champion ... 8-time IHSAA Sectional Champion ... 4-time ALL-STATE performer covering 2 events ... school record holder in 6 different events ... INCREDIBLE! CONGRATULATIONS EMMA - WE ARE VERY PROUD OF YOU!!
#DOINITWRIGHT
Boys
With the girls' season now complete, it's the boys turn. Hobart will host the IHSAA SECTIONAL swimming prelims on Thursday! LET'S GOOOOOOO BRICKIES!!
#JUSTKEEPSWIMMING
Alivia Ahner @ IHSAA Diving Regional
Check out the video below to see Alivia dive at the IHSAA REGIONAL!
Emma "Doin It" Wright @ IHSAA STATE SWIM FINALS
Check out what the local papers had to say about Emma @ STATE!
Wrestling
Each weight class had 16 competitors. The top 4 individuals in each class advance to STATE. In order to secure a spot in the top 4, competitors need to win their 1st 2 matches. Here we go!
The first round was a meat grinder for all in attendance ... the wrestling was OUTSTANDING and 5 of our 9 Brickies advanced! The "ticket round" was crazy. It had everything ... glory, drama, heartbreak ... all within 6 minutes for each match. Our boys FOUGHT HARD and represented Hobart EXTREMELY WELL with how they competed. Of the 5 Brickies wrestling in the "ticket round", TWWWOOOOOOOOO found victory and advanced to next weekend's STATE FINALS!! Here are their stories ...
At 126 lbs, sophomore Devin Wible ... after winning a 7-0 decision in the 1st round ... WON by PIN in overtime! Wible was trailing by 4 points with roughly 30 seconds left in the match ... a nearly insurmountable deficit in that time frame. Devin scored 3 INCREDIBLE points to get within 1 and with less than 5 seconds remaining, was awarded another to TIE IT UP due to his opponent running away to celebrate - UNBELIEVABLE! Wible ... as he as done so well over the last month ... took advantage of his opportunity, scored a takedown and even got a PIN 13 seconds into the overtime period to secure his spot in the STATE FINALS!! Devin would eventually finish 3rd in the 126-lb weight class to add another ribbon to an already STELLAR last month of competition. NCC Champion ... Sectional Champion ... Regional Runner-Up ... and now STATE QUALIFIER!! GREAT JOB DEVIN!!
At 170 lbs, junior Jacob Simpson ... after winning by technical fall (15-0) in the 1st round ... WON an EXCITING 4-3 decision to punch his ticket to Indianapolis! Jake got down early, then fought back to a 2-2 tie going into the final period. He scored a TWWWOOOOOOOO point takedown to go ahead 4-2 ... gave up an escape with 13 seconds remaining and held on to earn the THRILLING 1-point win! After losing a heartbreaker (3-2) in the semifinals ... his 1st loss of the entire season, Jake went on to WIN a 7-2 decision in the consolation final to finish 3rd!! What an AMAZING junior campaign it has been for Simpson ... NCC Champion ... Sectional Champion ... Regional Champion ... and now STATE QUALIFIER!! GREAT JOB JAKE!!
Hobart finished 5th overall as a team ... 1 spot better than a year ago ... with 37.5 points. Chesterton edged DAC rival Crown Point for the team title.
Next weekend, the Brickies will bring TWWWOOOOOOOOO competitors ... Devin Wible & Jacob Simpson ... to INDIANAPOLIS for the STATE FINALS!! Each of these underclassmen are making their 1st appearances at Bankers Life Fieldhouse! 1st round action begins Friday with the quarterfinals starting Saturday morning at 9:30 AM EST.
DON'T STOP NOW BOYS!!
#BRICKRODE
Devin Wible @ 126 lbs
Jacob Simpson @ 170 lbs
Basketball
Boys
The IHSAA "BIG DANCE" is coming ... only 2 more weeks remain in the regular season and our boys are WORK WORK WORKing hard to finish strong!
Tuesday night, Hobart traveled to take on defending Class 3A Sectional champion Hanover Central. The Brickies started slow and trailed 11-2 after 8 minutes. In the 2nd period, our boys found their rhythm on offense and outscored the Wildcats 16-10 to close the gap to only 3 heading into the locker rooms for the halftime break. Hobart came out firing again in the 3rd frame and actually led by 1 going into the final quarter!! In a BATTLE to the FINISH, Hanover was able to capitalize when it needed to and hung on to defeat the Brickies in a close one, 46-42. Senior Max Jancich connected on 4 of 5 3-pointers to lead Hobart in scoring with 16 points. Classmate Quinten White scored 9 and juniors Miki Djankovich and Anthony Williams each added 7 in the loss.
On Friday night, our boys welcomed NCC rival and area top 10 ranked Andrean to the Friendly City. In a competitive 1st quarter, Andrean held a slim 13-9 lead as the Brickie D-D-D-DEFENSE locked them down and our boys were able to clean the glass on every miss! Hobart continued to challenge the bigger 59ers and took the lead, 17-15, midway through the 2nd period! Andrean was able to finish the half on a 10-4 run and held a 25-21 advantage at halftime. Coming out of the locker room, the visitors asserted themselves on both ends and the Brickies fell off the pace, eventually losing 61-38 in a game that was much more competitive than the final score.
On Saturday afternoon, the Brickies were again ROAD WARRIORS as they visited Hammond Gavit for the last time. The "Gladiator Arena" will be closing at the end of the school year as Hammond consolidates 4 high schools down to two. Fortunately, the snow didn't hinder anything and the Glads provided the perfect medicine to cure Hobart's 10-game skid. Our boys SHINED on both ends of the floor and left town with the nets still burning after TORCHING Gavit 80-37!!! WOW - lock down D-D-D-DEFENSE combined with an offensive explosion added up to the lopsided afternoon and a relaxing bus ride back to H-town! The Brickies were again led by Jancich with 17 points ... Djankovich and White also hit double-figures as Hobart defeated Gavit for the 9th time in 10 years!!
The Brickies are scheduled to play 7 games over the next two weeks before MARCH MADNESS begins. GOOD LUCK BOYS! FINISH STRONG!!
#MAKETHEMBELIEVE
Gymnastics
On Thursday, the Lady Brickies traveled south on I-65 to compete in a triangular meet against Lowell and the Portage Lady Indians. Hobart has eclipsed the century mark in team points in all 3 meets thus far ... could the streak extend to 4?
YES!!!!! Our girls were PHENOMENAL on all 4 events and tallied a team total of 104.00!!
Portage edged the Lady Brickies by a mere 0.150 and Lowell finished 3rd with 86.5000.
Junior Aisha Arias SHINED as she scored a 9+ on 3 of 4 events on her way to finishing 1st in the all-around with a season-best 36.150!! Sophomore Haylie Skripac brought home 1st on vault, 2nd on bars, and 5th on the beam on her way to 3rd in the all-around with a 34.800! Sophomore Sarah Romeo placed 3rd on vault and 7th in the all-around while classmate Daeges Morgan finished 6th on beam ... senior Nataly Ponce was 4th on vault to round out Hobart's podium placers.
The Lady Brickies have two meets remaining ... both in the friendly confines of the Frank Kurth Fieldhouse ... over the next two weeks before IHSAA Sectional competition begins over at Portage High School. Our girls continue to show improvement every time out and appear to be peaking at just the right time! YOU CAN DO IT LADIES!!!
#STICKIT
Athlete of the Month
Congratulations to our January Brickie Athletes of the Month!
Alivia Ahner - Diving
Emma Wright - Swimming
Ethan Ferba - Diving
Trevor Schammert - Wrestling
Keep up the amazing WORK WORK WORK!
#BRICKIEPRIDE
Bowling
Cayleb was a 2020 State Qualifier for the Brickies!
#STRIKEAPOSE
Sports Schedule This Week
President's Day - No Events Scheduled
Tuesday
Boys Basketball vs. Lowell *
Wednesday
Gymnastics vs. Crown Point/Lowell
Thursday
Boys Swimming @ IHSAA Sectional Prelims (Hosted by HHS)
Friday
Wrestling @ IHSAA STATE FINALS (Devin Wible & Jacob Simpson)
Boys Diving @ IHSAA Sectional (Hosted by HHS)
Boys Basketball @ Highland *
Saturday
Wrestling @ IHSAA STATE FINALS (*If advance on Friday)
Boys Swimming @ IHSAA Sectional Finals (Hosted by HHS)
Boys Basketball @ Merrillville
* - NCC Opponent