The last two weeks of 2022 were action-packed for Brickie sports as boys and girls basketball, wrestling and swimming & diving were all lacing up their sneakers (or tightening their goggles) for some end of the year excitement! In fact, American singer, songwriter, guitarist & actor Jon Bon Jovi might say they closed out the calendar year in a Blaze of Glory! The change to 2023 also marks the midpoint of the winter sports season ... or as Bon Jovi might say, "Wooooooooooooaaaahhhh, we're half way there"!!

These next two months should provide Brickie fans plenty to cheer about, so let's make the most of it! After all ...

It's my liiiiiiiiiiife

It's now or never

... I ain't gonna live forever

I just wanna live while I'm aliiiiiiiiiiiiiive ... it's time for BricksCenter!

Girls

A day before our boys hit the road for the prestigious Al Smith Invitational at Mishawaka High School, the Lady Brickies were @ Penn for the Sarah Hildebrandt Invitational. This is the largest girls wrestling tournament in the northern part of Indiana and our girls SHINED!!

Out of 56 teams competing, Hobart finished 6th overall with 93.0 team points!!

With sooooo many competitors, brackets were subdivided into multiple divisions.

Here are our podium finishers:

106 = freshman Joanna Cantu - 5th

120A = senior Emma Spinks - 6th

120B = freshman Maddy Lams - 3rd

126A = senior Sarah Romeo - 6th

126B = freshman Natalyn Queer - 6th

138A = junior Jillian Wilkinson - 7th

145A = junior Alyssa Adams - 7th

145B = sophomore Gabby Reyes - 3rd, senior Jayla Lacny = 8th

152 = junior Keirys Click - 5th

182 = junior Maddy Grady - 4th

220-285 = junior Ja'Nyse Gates - 6th

It was a long day of wrasslin' but one that provided a GREAT opportunity for our girls to test themselves against the best ( ... I say the best) around. No doubt that this experience will only help them as they prepare for the IHSGW REGIONAL next Friday!!

GREAT JOB LADIES & GOOD LUCK in the State Tournament!!

Boys

Arguably the best high school wrestling tournament in the state of Indiana — outside of the IHSAA state finals — the 44th Al Smith Wrestling Invitational unfolded Thursday and Friday at Mishawaka High School.

With 32 teams in the powerhouse field, including defending Class 4A State Champion Crown Point and annual contender Center Grove ... this weekend was by far the toughest competition our grapplers have faced all year. The Hub City Bulldogs actually brought the title back home to Da Region for the 2nd straight year.

After two GRUELING days of wrestling against the best of the best, Hobart's final tally was 67.5 points, which placed the Brickies in 23rd overall among the stacked field! TWWWWOOOOOOOOOO Brickies reached the podium in their respective weight classes:

113 lbs - sophomore Seth Aubin - 6th

170 lbs - sophomore Aidan Costello - 4th

Both of these Brickies finished on the podium at last year's Al Smith ... an important step on the #BrickRode towards Indy!

Overall, it looks like the construction taking place on the 2022-2023 #BRICKRODE is making it BETTER and BETTER! (Hey, it's Indiana, there had to be at least one construction reference when talking about roads). CONGRATULATIONS TO COACH COOK AND OUR BOYS FOR SUCH A GREAT SHOWING!

The Brickies host Kankakee Valley on Tuesday night followed by their 3rd consecutive trip to Franklin Community High School for the IHSWCA Class 3A TEAM STATE meet on Saturday!

8 teams enter ... only 1 can be crowned State Champion.

GOOD LUCK BOYS!!

#BRICKRODE

Girls

This winter, the Lady Brickies were competitors in the Lake Central Holiday Tournament - a first for Hobart - and saw some TOUGH competition starting with the Class 4A #7-ranked hosts!

Tuesday, our girls played Class 4A #7-ranked Lake Central in the morning and followed it up with a game against Class 1A #15-ranked Washington Township. In the first game, LC seemingly hit every shot they attempted in the opening quarter and blitzed the Lady Bricks 22-8. Our girls BATTLED HARD the rest of the way, but the first quarter deficit was too much to overcome against such a seasoned squad and the Lady Brickies lost a tough one 59-38. A few hours later, Hobart played their 2nd ranked team of the day and this one was a SHOOT OUT!! It was the Lady Brickies who got the upper hand early and held an 18-10 advantage after 8 minutes of play! The pace of play was even FASTER in the 2nd quarter as Hobart netted another 18 points ... Washington Twp poured in 20 and the halftime scoreboard showed a 36-30 Brickie lead! The Senators clamped down on the Lady Brickie offense in the 3rd ... holding our girls to just 11 points and took a 1-point lead into the final period. Play was FRANTIC over the final 8 minutes as each team tried to seize control!! Unfortunately, it was the Senators who eventually held on for a 73-65 win.

On Wednesday, the Lady Brickies were back at it bright and early with their final "pool play" game ... this one against South Bend Adams. In a script that mirrored the Washington Twp contest, Hobart burnt the nets for 22 1st quarter points ... played relatively even over the next 16 minutes and held a 4-point advantage heading into the 4th quarter against a very athletic Eagles squad! Ultimately, the Lady Bricks ran out of gas in the final period and lost another tough one, 60-47. In the consolation final, Hobart faced Hebron on Wednesday afternoon. For the 3rd straight contest, the Lady Brickies gained an early advantage (12-7 after 1 quarter) and held it through middle 16 minutes of play! Heading into the 4th quarter clinging to a 5-point advantage (33-28), our girls made the most of the opportunity and completely CLOSED THE DOOR to any hopes Hebron may have had of mounting a comeback! The Lady Brickies outscored the Hawks 14-2 over the last 8 minutes to secure a 47-30 VICTORY!!!

It was an exhausting 2-day stretch for the Lady Brickies ... facing some of the toughest competition they've seen this year. Still, our girls PLAYED TOUGH and proved once again that they can play with ANYONE! With a month left in the regular season, the Lady Brickies still have time to FINSH STRONG and make some noise in the post-season!

Hobart is currently 9-7 overall and will be back in action Tuesday @ Morton and Friday against NCC rival Highland. WE BELIEVE!!

#SHEGOTGAME

Boys

On Tuesday, the Brickies were at Lake Station High School for the 3rd installment of this local Round-Robin Holiday Tournament. What I mean by "Round-Robin" is that each participating school ... Hobart, Wheeler, Lake Station & River Forest ... take turns hosting. The Brickies hosted in 2019 and took advantage of some home court advantage to win the title. The 2020 edition was cancelled due to COVID and Wheeler hosted in 2021. This winter, it was Lake Station's turn and the host Eagles were looking to defend their 2021 crown!

In game #1, Hobart faced Lake Station in the 10am game. The hosts entered the contest ranked #13 in Class 3A. Over the first 16 minutes of play, the Brickies were FANTASTIC! Our boys executed well against the Eagles full-court press and completely LOCKED THEM UP on D-D-D-DEFENSE to take a 26-14 lead into the halftime locker room!! Lake Station changed things up in the 2nd half and the constant pressure on defense finally wore down the Brickies. The Eagles took the lead late in the 3rd quarter and eventually went on to win 64-47 in a very competitive contest. Senior Vonzell Strayhorne led the Brickies with 14 points ... classmate Keith Mullins & sophomore Aidan Leonard each added 8 ... and junior Anthony Hnilo chipped in 5 pts, 7 rebounds, 5 assists & 2 steals in the loss.

The Eagles went on to defeat Wheeler in the championship to secure their second straight title and improve to 8-1 on the year.

In the consolation game Tuesday night, the Brickies squared off against River Forest. Back on November 26th, Hobart defeated the Ingots 51-43. Would our boys be able to come back strong after an exhausting morning game against a top 3A team? ABSOLUTELY!!! The Bricks came out firing on ALL CYLINDERS and jumped out to an early 16-9 advantage after 1 quarter of play! After an even 2nd period, Hobart AGAIN played "LOCK UP CITY" on D-D-D-DEFENSE after halftime ... holding RF to just 3 points in the 3rd and went into the final stanza holding a 39-25 lead!! Over the last 8 minutes, our boys held the line and earned a HARD FOUGHT 44-34 VICTORY!! Sophomore Felix Lopez led the Bricks with 14 points ... Leonard added 8 pts, 6 rebounds and 3 assists ... and Strayhorne netted 7 points to go along with his team-high 7 rebounds!!

Hobart is now 5-3 on the season and 1-0 in NCC action! Our boys will be in action twice this week ... @ Griffith on Wednesday and @ Westville on Friday - LET'S GO BRICKS!!

#RISETOTHEOCCASION

Girls

Way back before Christmas, the Lady Brickies hosted the LaPorte Slicers in a non-conference dual meet on December 20th. The final tally didn't reflect how well our girls swam as the Slicers earned a 109-67 victory. Highlighting the podium finishes for Hobart was sophomore Brogan McDonald, who WON the 100 Free by nearly 2 seconds over her top competitor from LaPorte!! Senior Marie White, freshman Cassie Cohen and sophomore Peyton Leonard all swam well and the diving team of seniors Daeges Morgan (1st), Gabby Tomich (2nd) and Maci Luchene (3rd) got out the brooms and SWEPT the top 3 spots on the board!!

Here are some results from the meet:

200 Medley Relay - 3rd = White, Cohen, Leonard & McDonald

200 Free - 3rd = McDonald, 4th = Leonard

200 IM - 3rd = senior Hailey Blood, 4th = junior Sydney Johnston

50 Free - 3rd = White, 4th = sophomore Nela Robles, 5th = freshman Maliah Christopher

Diving - 1st = Morgan, 2nd = Tomich, 3rd = Luchene

100 Fly - 3rd = White

100 Free - 1st = McDonald, 3rd = junior Yola Fritz, 6th = Robles, 7th = Christopher

500 Free - 3rd = Cohen, 5th = Blood

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

100 Back - 3rd = Leonard

100 Breast - 2nd = Cohen, 4th = Fritz, 5th = Johnston

400 Free Relay - 3rd = Leonard, Johnston, Blood & Fritz

The Lady Brickies are showing growth and getting faster ... two GREAT things with just over a month left before the IHSAA Sectional comes to town! Our girls are back in the water on Tuesday @ Portage and host Wheeler on Thursday ... not to mention the 2nd Annual Hobart Diving Invite on Saturday! WE GOT THIS!!

Boys

Our boys were also in the water on December 20th against the Slicers looking to continue improving before the holiday break! Competing without sophomore speedster Christian Kertz, the Brickies still competed well against the Duneland Conference power! Even though the final score (137-46) had the Slicers picking up the 'W', it was not reflective of how close the races actually were or illustrate how much our kids are improving. The dynamic duo of senior Eian Ferba and junior Ethan Robles continue to demonstrate their license to dive as they placed 1-2 AGAIN on the 1-meter board! Senior Owen Finch (100 Fly) and junior Brett Herrin (100 Breast) also earned top 2 finishes in individual events!!

Here are some other results from the meet:

200 Medley Relay - 3rd = Finch, Herrin and freshmen Lu Cohen & Dylan Whetstone

200 Free - 4th = freshman Durgon Click, 5th = junior Connor Crofton, 6th = Cohen

200 IM - 3rd = Herrin

50 Free - 3rd = Finch, 5th = junior Ayden Witting, 6th = Whetstone

Diving - 1st = Ferba, 2nd = Robles, 4th = senior Jose Torres

100 Fly - 2nd = Finch

100 Free - 4th = Witting, 5th = Click, 6th = junior Travis Balding

500 Free - 3rd = Crofton

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

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

100 Breast - 2nd = Herrin, 5th = Cohen

400 Free Relay - 3rd = Balding, Click, Whetstone & Witting

The Brickies have a FULL WEEK AHEAD after the New Year with a road trip to Portage, a home meet against Wheeler and the 2nd Annual Hobart Diving Invite!

#JUSTKEEPSWIMMING

Monday

No Events Scheduled

Tuesday

Wrestling vs. Kankakee Valley *

Girls Swimming & Diving @ Portage

Boys Swimming & Diving @ Portage

Girls Basketball @ Morton

9th Boys Basketball @ Munster *

Wednesday

Boys Basketball @ Griffith

Thursday

Girls Swimming & Diving vs. Wheeler

Boys Swimming & Diving vs. Wheeler

Friday

Girls Basketball vs. Highland *

Boys Basketball @ Westville

Girls Wrestling @ IHSGW REGIONAL (Hosted by Penn High School)

Saturday

Hobart Diving Invitational

Boys Wrestling @ IHSWCA TEAM STATE DUALS (Hosted by Franklin Community HS)

9th Girls Basketball @ Highland *

9th Boys Basketball @ Highland *

* = NCC Opponent