With the college football national championship taking place Monday night, it seems only fitting that one of the most well known commentators offer his take on this past week in Brickie sports. Legendary American sports commentator, journalist, author and radio personality Keith Jackson ... who basically coined phrases that makeup the "soundtrack of college football" ... might say "WHOOOA NELLIE" when looking at all the excitement!!

Hobart winter sports have been in HIGH GEAR since the calendar flipped to 2023! In fact, the Brickies had a VERY busy week with two swim meets, a diving invitational, four varsity basketball games - two each for boys & girls, and plenty of wrestling action on the #BRICKRODE that included a 3rd straight trip for our boys to TEAM STATE and a FIRST EVER for the girls!

Hold the phone ... it's time for BricksCenter!

The Lady Brickies began the new year with two contests ... a Tuesday night bus ride over to Hammond Morton and a Friday night NCC showdown with Highland!

Tuesday night at the Governor's Mansion, the Lady Brickies faced Hammond Morton. Playing without leading scorer Asia Donald, our girls pulled together and PLAYED HARD to take an 18-14 lead after 1 quarter of play!! The Lady Govs fought back in the 2nd to tie things up at the half (33-33). Coming out of the locker room, neither team could gain an advantage and the contest entered the final stanza all knotted up at 44! The final 8 minutes were FRANTIC as each squad tried to seize control. Ultimately, it was Morton who scored just enough to edge our girls 59-57 in a heartbreaker. Sophomore Laden Weinman led the Lady Bricks with a career high 21 points and junior Jesse Neace chipped in 13 in the loss.

On Friday, Hobart hosted the NCC rival Highland to close out the holiday break. The Lady Brickies were without the services of senior starters Asia Donald and Niko Latinovic, but a young scrappy lineup played with everything they had against the talented Trojans for 32 minutes. Our girls hung close early ... trailing just 15-8 after 1. The Highland defense eventually began to take control - limiting opportunities for the Lady Bricks - and the 11-3 Lady Trojans left town with a 51-28 win. Junior Cailey Weber was the only Hobart player to reach double figures with a team-high 10 points ... sophomore Audrey Wendel added 9 points.

Hobart is now 9-8 overall and will face two tough tests this week ... Tuesday against Chesterton and Thursday against another NCC foe, the Lowell Red Devils. GOOD LUCK LADIES!! WE BELIEVE IN YOU!!

#SHEGOTGAME

Boys

The Brickie cagers were on ROAD WARRIORS this past week with two trips on the schedule ... a Wednesday night affair @ Griffith and a Friday night drive over to Westville.

On Wednesday, the Panthers hosted Hobart in non-conference action. Over the first 8 minutes, Griffith took a 14-5 lead ... and early in the 2nd period, it grew to 19-5 before our boys climbed back in it. CALL IT A COMEBACK!! The Bricks turned up the pressure D-D-D-DEFENSE and cut the lead to just 4 at 21-17 before the Panthers rattled off the final 4 points of the half to take a 25-17 cushion into the break. Hobart scored the first 6 of the 3rd to cut the deficit to just 2 (25-23) and the rest of the quarter went back-n-forth until Griffith scored just before the buzzer to lead by 3 (38-35) with 8 minutes remaining. Over the final 8 minutes, Griffith unfortunately had an answer every time our boys made a run and eventually closed it out with some timely shooting to win a close one 52-44. Senior Gabe Dickerson topped the scoring column with 16 points ... classmate Keith Mullins added 12 and junior Anthony Hnilo played a good all-around game with 4 steals, 4 assists & 4 rebounds in the loss.

Friday night, Westville was the destination and redemption was the theme as the Brickies looked to avenge a 2022 loss to the Blackhawks ... a 63-43 setback on 1/7/22. Out of the gate, it appeared Westville was picking up where they left off a year ago as the hosts jumped ahead 11-5 after 8 minutes of play. Over the next two quarters, play was INTENSE as our boys tried to BATTLE BACK, but heading into the final period, Westville still held a 38-25 advantage. The Brickies turned up the heat on D-D-D-DEFENSE and finally started to find the net on offense ... CLIMBING BACK into the game and getting within striking distance!! It was a GREAT EFFORT given by our boys that unfortunately fell a little short as the host Blackhawks made 19/25 FTS to seal the 52-45 win. Sophomore Felix Lopez netted 13 points and Dickerson backed him up with 8 ... senior Vonzell Strayhorne pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds in the loss.

The Brickies are now 5-5 overall and remain 1-0 in NCC play near the halfway point of the season. Our boys will be back in action on Saturday as they host Illiana Christian and the Hobart Athletic HALL OF FAME welcomes 3 new members!! BE THERE!!

#RISETOTHEOCCASION

Girls wrestling is an "emerging sport" in the eyes of the IHSAA ... which means the state of Indiana is looking at "sanctioning" it based on how many schools participate and are able to follow IHSAA guidelines in that participation. Since it is not yet sanctioned, there is no IHSAA State Tournament Series for girls wrestling. However, the IHSGW (Indiana High School Girls Wrestling) association has put together it's own State Tournament Series to give girls an opportunity to compete against other girls for the last 6 years on a state level.

Friday night, 18 Lady Brickies were at Penn High School to compete in the IHSGW NW REGIONAL! This is the FIRST TIME Hobart has been represented here with a chance to advance to STATE! With over DOUBLE the normal number of entries, half the weight classes were divided into TWWWOOOOOOOOO sections ... top 3 competitors in each section moved on to finals. The top 4 overall places in each class (whether it was split or not) advance to the IHSGW State Finals ... and our girls SHINED BRIGHT!! The Lady Brickies put 9 girls in the top 6 finishers and will be taking TWWWOOOOOOOOOO qualifiers to Mooresville next Friday for STATE!! Junior Keirys Click WON the 152-lb REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP with a pin over Janiah Juarez from Penn in just 35 seconds!! Freshman Joanna Cantu will join her at STATE after finishing 4th in the 106-lb weight class!! INCREDIBLE!!!

Overall, Hobart placed 3rd as a team out of 50 in attendance!! HOLY SCHNIKES that's AWESOME!! The host Kingsmen won the title with Merrillville finishing second.

CONGRATULATIONS to Coaches Tom Westberg & Erin Swafford and to ALL of the Lady Brickies who have paved the #BRICKRODE in this first season of competition!! IT HAS BEEN A GREAT RIDE!! Good news? IT'S NOT OVER YET!! Click & Cantu will compete at the IHSGW STATE FINALS on Friday, 1/13/2023, hosted by Mooresville High School! Weigh-ins will take place at 10am EST and wrestling begins @ 11amEST.

GOOD LUCK LADIES!! WE ARE VERY PROUD OF YOU!!

Boys

The Brickie grapplers had TWWWOOOOOOOOOOO meets this past week ... a home NCC dual against Kankakee Valley and a trip to Franklin for the IHSWCA Class 3A TEAM STATE meet!

On TWWWOOOOOOOOOsday, the Brickies hosted the Kougars on SENIOR NIGHT! After recognizing a fine group of senior student athletes ... Owen Gniadek, Jonny McGill, Alan Turich, Auggie Verduzco, Diego Verduzco, and Devin Wible ... competition began with the 145lb weight class. KV won the first two matches of the night by pin to take an early 12-0 lead. Our Brickies BATTLED back with 6 CONSECUTIVE VICTORIES BY PIN!! Gniadek won @ 160 ... then sophomore Aidan Costello tied it up at 12-12 with a win @ 170 ... Turich was next @ 182 ... then junior Jake Sparks @ 195 ... classmate Aidan Olague @ 220 and finally sophomore Luke Juris @ heavyweight!! The run by Hobart helped our boys build a commanding 36-12 advantage that they would not reliquish!!

FINAL SCORE: Brickies 60, Kougars 24

WOW!!! What a way to close out SENIOR NIGHT!!

IHSWCA TEAM STATE

Saturday, Franklin Community High School served as the host for the IHSWCA Class 3A TEAM STATE competition. Hobart earned an invite for the 3rd year in a row ... and just the 4th time in school history!

Hobart entered as the #6 seed and faced #3 Greenfield Central in the first round. The Bricks won 6 of the 14 weight classes, but ultimately lost 42-22

In the consolation bracket, Hobart faced East Central for the SE corner of Indiana. Our boys jumped out to an early 30-12 lead before the Trojans came roaring back ... eventually taking a 39-36 lead with just one weight class remaining. Fortunately for the Brickies, that class was 170lbs and sophomore Aidan Costello WON BY PIN with 3 seconds remaining in the 1st period to DELIVER a TEAM VICTORY 42-39 in exciting fashion!!

Terre Haute South awaited the Bricks in the consolation semifinals. Hobart wrestled hard, but was only able to win 5 of the 14 matches and lost a tough one 51-23.

In the final competition of the day, our boys faced Indianapolis Roncalli ... the #1-seed entering the day ... to see who would finish 5th or 6th in the state. Similar to the first round of the day, Hobart won 6 matches ... TWWOOOOOO by major decision and TWWOOOOO by fall, but it wasn't enough and the Rebels won 45-26.

Mishawaka was the Class 3A IHSWCA STATE CHAMPION for 2023.

Overall, the Brickies wrestled their butts off on Saturday and finished 6th in the STATE! SUPER SOPHOMORES Seth Aubin, Daniel Mata & Costello all went undefeated (4-0) on the day and look poised to make deep post-season runs ... seniors Alan Turich & Jonny McGill, along with junior Aidan Olague notched two wins each ... and everyone gained valuable experience against the BEST in Class 3A from around the state.

Our boys SHINED on the big stage and represented HHS extremely well in terms of their GRIT & TOUGHNESS ... two vital traits to carry while navigating the #Brickrode. The overall success of our kids' experience at Team State and the growth our young guys showed ... improving throughout the competition ... sets the stage for an EXCITING next 4 weeks and hopefully some post-season hardware!

Hobart is 12-5 on the season, 3-1 in the NCC, and back in action this week @ Munster (Wednesday) to wrap up the round-robin NCC schedule and then travel to Lowell for the Northwest Crossroads Conference Championship meet on Saturday with a chance to win a 9th title in a row!

Let's Go Bricks!!

#BRICKRODE

Girls

The Lady Brickies were in the water twice over the past 6 days ... a trip down Ridge Rd to Portage on Tuesday and a home contest against Wheeler Thursday!

Tuesday, Hobart was at Portage to compete in their newly renovated pool. The Lady Indians had depth and speed working in their favor ... two factors that added up to a 131-52 win. Senior Daeges Morgan continued her DOMINANCE in DIVING with another 1st place finish to give the Lady Brickies their lone win on the night.

Here are some other results from Tuesday's meet:

200 Medley Relay - 3rd = senior Marie White, sophomores Brogan McDonald & Evangeline Clay, and freshman Cassie Cohen

200 Free - 3rd = McDonald, 5th = Clay, 6th = sophomore Nela Robles

200 IM - 4th = White, 5th = senior Hailey Blood, 6th = junior Sydney Johnston

50 Free - 3rd = sophomore Peyton Leonard, 5th = Robles, 6th = freshman Maliah Christopher

Diving - 1st = Morgan, 3rd = senior Gabby Tomich, 5th = sophomore Alyssa Meinert

100 Fly - 4th = White, 5th = Blood

100 Free - 2nd = Cohen, 4th = junior Yola Fritz, 6th = Christopher

500 Free - 2nd = McDonald

200 Free Relay - 2nd = White, Cohen, Clay & McDonald

100 Back - 3rd = Leonard, 5th = Clay

100 Breast - 2nd = Cohen, 4th = Fritz, 6th = Johnston

On Thursday night, the Lady Brickies welcomed the Wheeler Bearcats to The Friendly City for a non-conference meet. Competing in the friendly confines of the Hobart Aquatic Center served our girls well as they raced to 1st place in 8 of 12 events and earned a 97-82 VICTORY!! Junior Marie White (200 IM & 100 Fly) & sophomore Brogan McDonald (200 Free & 500 Free) each scored two individual wins and teamed up to help the Lady Bricks also win the 200 Medley & 200 Free Relays!! Morgan was once again OUTSTANDING on the diving board in earning her 2nd victory of the week and freshman Cassie Cohen also finished 1st in the 100 Breast!! GREAT JOB LADIES!!

Here are some other results from Thursday's meet:

200 Medley Relay - 1st = Clay, Cohen, White & McDonald

200 Free - 1st = McDonald, 3rd = Clay, 6th = Robles

200 IM - 1st = White, 3rd = Blood, 5th = Johnston

50 Free - 2nd = Leonard, 3rd = Robles, 4th = Christopher

Diving - 1st = Morgan, 2nd = Tomich, 5th = freshman Kacey Fleming

100 Fly - 1st = White, 3rd = Blood

100 Free - 2nd = Cohen, 4th = Fritz, 6th = Christopher

500 Free - 1st = McDonald

200 Free Relay - 1st = White, Cohen, Johnston & McDonald

100 Back - 2nd = Leonard, 3rd = Clay

100 Breast - 1st = Cohen, 3rd = Fritz, 5th = Johnston

The Lady Brickies are 2-8 on the season so far, but continue to show improvement each week! Up next is an NCC double-dual with Highland & Lowell followed by a visit from Merrillville. GOOD LUCK LADIES!!

Boys

The boys were also visiting Porter County on Tuesday to square off with Portage on Tuesday. On the diving board, it was a clean BRICKIE SWEEP with senior Eian Ferba, junior Ethan Robles & senior Jose Torres going 1-2-3! Junior Brett Herrin also claimed FIRST individually in the 100 Breast! As well as our boys competed, Portage managed to outscore the Bricks 99-80.

Here are some other results from Tuesday's meet:

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

200 Free - 3rd = junior Connor Crofton, 5th = Cano, 6th = freshman Durgon Click

200 IM - 2nd = Herrin, 3rd = freshman Lu Cohen

50 Free - 2nd = Finch, 3rd = Kertz, 5th = junior Ayden Witting

Diving - 1st = Ferba, 2nd = Robles, 3rd = Torres

100 Fly - 3rd = Finch

100 Free - 2nd = Kertz, 4th = Witting, 5th = Click

500 Free - 3rd = Crofton, 4th = junior Travis Balding

200 Free Relay - 2nd = Kertz, Cohen, Herrin & Finch

100 Back - 2nd = Cano, 3rd = Balding, 4th = sophomore Antonio Mandich

100 Breast - 1st = Herrin, 3rd = Cohen, 5th = Mandich

On Thursday, the Wheeler Bearcats came to town for a non-conference dual at The Aquatics Center. The Brickies LOOKED GOOD in the water and scored individual winners in 3 events - junior Brett Herrin took 1st for the 2nd time this week in the 100 Breast ... freshman Jaden Cano won the 100 Back ... and the TERRIFIC TRIO on the diving board, Eian Ferba, Ethan Robles & Jose Torres got their 2nd straight sweep! Hobart also won the 200 Medley Relay to start the meet! Wheeler loaded up the spring events, won two relays and 6 individual events to nip the Brickies on the scoreboard by 9 points (84-75) to get the win.

Here are some results from Thursday's meet:

200 Medley Relay - 1st = Finch, Cano, Kertz & Herrin

200 Free - 2nd = Cano, 3rd = Click

200 IM - 2nd = Herrin, 4th = Cohen

50 Free - 3rd = Kertz, 4th = Finch, 5th = Witting

Diving - 1st = Ferba, 2nd = Robles, 3rd = Torres

100 Fly - 3rd = Finch

100 Free - 3rd = Kertz, 4th = Witting, 5th = Click

500 Free - 2nd = Balding

100 Back - 1st = Cano, 3rd = Mandich, 4th = Balding

100 Breast - 1st = Herrin, 5th = Cohen, 6th = Mandich

The Brickie boys are 1-9 this winter, but records can be deceiving in. Our guys are putting plenty of WORK WORK WORK getting better & better! A busy week ahead includes Highland/Lowell and Merrillville!! YOU'VE GOT THIS BOYS!!

#JUSTKEEPSWIMMING

HOBART DIVING INVITE

On Saturday, the Brickies hosted the 2nd ever Diving Invitational and welcomed LaPorte, Lowell, Kankakee Valley and Chesterton for an 11-dive meet! Starting at 10am, 30 divers began the invitational which included a 5-dive segment followed by two 3-dive segments ... to simulate what these student athletes will see in the post-season and to crown both individual and team champions.

Well ... as they have done all year ... our BRICKS SHINED!!! The girls and boys each put 2 divers in the top 6 overall places and finished 2nd in the team standings! Chesterton ultimately won both titles ... nipping our boys by just a handful of points.

CONGRATULATIONS to senior Daeges Morgan for winning the overall title on the girls side and setting a new pool record in the process!! Classmate Gabby Tomich was 6th to join her on the podium!

For the boys, senior Eian Ferba finished 2nd by just 1.50 points and junior Ethan Robles was 3rd - both with HUGE PRs!!

#LICENSETODIVE

9th Girls Basketball @ Kankakee Valley *

9th Boys Basketball @ Kankakee Valley *

Tuesday

Gymnastics vs. Chesterton

Girls Basketball vs. Chesterton

Girls Swimming & Diving vs. Highland/Lowell *

Boys Swimming & Diving vs. Highland/Lowell *

Wednesday

Wrestling @ Munster *

9th Girls Basketball vs. Hanover Central

Gymnastics @ Merrillville Quad

9th Boys Basketball @ Valparaiso

Thursday

Girls Swimming & Diving vs. Merrillville

Boys Swimming & Diving vs. Merrillville

Girls Basketball vs. Lowell *

Friday

Girls Wrestling @ IHSGW STATE FINALS (Hosted by Mooresville HS)

Saturday

Wrestling @ NCC CHAMPIONSHP MEET (Hosted by Lowell HS)
Boys Basketball vs. Illiana Christian (HHS Athletic Hall of Fame Induction)

9th Girls Basketball @ Highland Trny

* = NCC Opponent