BricksCenter
DaDaDa DaDaDa
December 29, 2019
21 Sports ... 1 Team ... WE ARE HOBART!
This past week while "we were on a break!" (Ross Geller from 'Friends'), our wrestlers were trying to PIN down the perfect way to finish the calendar year, our hoopers wanted to make sure they left the gym on a MAKE, and the swimmers DOVE down to Indy for some holiday fun!
It's hard to believe that the "roaring 20s" are almost upon us ... 2019 went way too fast ... but WHAT A RIDE!!!
Hope EVERYONE has a Happy and Safe New Year's Eve!
For now, take a seat ... preferably in the reclined position ... it's time for BricksCenter!
Basketball
With March Madness right around the corner, Hobart got a chance for some early tournament experience this past week. The Lady Brickies competed in the Wildcat Winter Classic down at Hanover Central while the boys cagers hosted a tournament of their own!
The Lady Brickies had quite an experience down in Cedar Lake at the Wildcat Winter Classic. A 1st-round game against on Thursday (... yes, the day after Christmas) pitted our girls against the Romeoville Lady Spartans from Illinois ... and this one was a barn-burner! The Lady Spartans rained 3's throughout the first 16 minutes, but Hobart continued attacking the hoop and trailed only 32-28 at the half. Romeoville put together a run to get up double figures on the Lady Brickies, but some TENACIOUS D-D-D-DEFENSE in full court brought our girls back!! Hobart poured in 28 4th quarter points and had chances down the stretch to gain control, but unfortunately the Lady Spartans had an answer every time it looked like the game would sway our way and hung on to defeat Hobart in a shoot-out 73-70. Freshman Asia Donald (24), sophomore Claudia Torrico-Ledesma (17) and senior Grace Nestich (11) all reached double figures in scoring for Hobart.
In the second game on Friday, our girls took on the Griffith Panthers in the consolation round. If you recall, the Lady Brickies defeated Griffith 50-47 back on November 19th on a last second 3-pointer from Torrico-Ledesma after enduring a gutsy 32 minute battle. This one was no different. Both teams scratched, clawed and dug in for 4 quarters, but this time it was Griffith who was able to find enough points at the right time to secure the win over the Lady Brickies 60-51.
Hammond Gavit was the 3rd and final opponent of the tournament for Hobart ... and this one was ALL BRICKIES! After 8 minutes of play, Hobart led 24-1 and never looked back. The final score was a gaudy 85-17 victory for our girls and a nice way to close out the calendar year.
Junior Lexi Williams led the charge with a career-high 31 points! Also notching double figures in the points column were seniors Gabbie Ramirez with 12 and Grace Nestich with 11.
Hobart currently stands at 7-8 on the season and will enjoy some much needed rest until they lace 'em up again on Tuesday, January 7th at home against Hammond Morton.
#EMBRACETHEJOURNEY
Boys
After playing down in the HOOSIER GYM the last 2 years, Hobart brought a holiday tournament to the Friendly City this season that included local teams North Newton, Wheeler and Lake Station.
The morning session featured semi-final matchups between Hobart and North Newton in the 1st game and Wheeler taking on Lake Station in the 2nd. The Brickies got it going early and often against the Spartans half court zone defense. Senior sharp-shooter Caleb Banjoff led the attach with 12 1st half points as Hobart built a commanding 29-11 halftime lead. Playing with a big cushion, the Brickies still came out of the locker room MOTIVATED to put the game on ice and ran away from North Newton to earn an easy 62-22 WIN!! Banjoff finished with 13 points and was joined in double-figures by classmate Tyler Schultz with 11.
Lake Station defeated Wheeler 51-34 in the 2nd game to set up the CHAMPIONSHIP.
This was the 3rd consecutive year that the Brickies have faced Lake Station in a holiday tournament. Back in 2017, the Eagles won 15 games ... one of them a narrow 52-49 victory over Hobart in Knightstown, IN at the Hoosier Gym. In 2018, the Eagles won 17 games, but one of their 7 losses was a 66-49 THUMPING from the Brickies down in Knightstown. In 2019, Lake Station entered the CHAMPIONSHIP game of Hobart's own holiday tournament with a 6-2 record while our Brickies stood tall at 3-2. Who would come out on top this year?
LET'S GO!!
Lake Station scored in the closing moments of the 1st quarter on a reverse lay-up to take an early 7-6 lead. Each squad netted 13 2nd quarter points and the Eagles held a slim 20-19 edge at the half. Coach Brown's halftime speech clearly centered on D-D-D-DEFENSE because Hobart held Lake Station to ONLY 2 POINTS in the 3rd quarter and the Brickies took a 29-22 lead into the final frame!! The Eagles would not go away quietly as they clawed their way back and after sinking a 3-pointer with 19 seconds left, Hobart clung to a 1 point lead at 35-34. Senior Tyler "ice in his veins" Schultz calmly sank 2 FTs with 15 seconds remaining to give our boys a 37-34 edge. With the crowd on the edge of their seats, Lake Station had 2 opportunities to tie it up in the waning moments. The first one hit the front iron and went out of bounds off a Brickie defender to give the Eagles one more chance with 3 ticks left. The second was a long 3 from the left wing that looked like it had a chance ... but fortunately for the hometown fans it missed the target and Hobart hung on for the THRILLING VICTORY to WIN the CHAMPIONSHIP!! WHAT A GAME!!
This is Hobart's second consecutive Holiday Tournament CHAMPIONSHIP after winning the Hoosier Gym Holiday Classic last season!
CONGRATULATIONS BOYS! WE ARE VERY PROUD OF YOU!!
Hobart is currently 4-2 on the season and will be back in action NEXT SATURDAY AFTERNOON against area top 10 team Valparaiso.
#MAKETHEMBELIEVE
Wrestling
Arguably the best high school wrestling tournament in the state of Indiana — outside of the IHSAA state finals — the 41st annual Al Smith Wrestling Invitational unfolded Friday and Saturday at Mishawaka High School.
With 32 teams in the powerhouse field, 5 of them ranked in the Top 10 including No. 3-ranked Crown Point, No. 4 Indianapolis Cathedral, No. 6 Chesterton, No. 9 Perry Meridian and No. 10 HOBART ... this weekend was by far the toughest competition our grapplers have faced all year.
After two GRUELING days of wrestling against the best of the best, Hobart's final tally was 115.5 points, which placed the Brickies in 7th overall among the stacked field! Five Brickies reached the podium in their respective weight classes:
113 lbs - Sophomore Trevor Schammert - 2nd
120 lbs - Sophomore Ruben Padilla - 7th
126 lbs - Senior Nathan Schammert - 8th
152 lbs - Junior Tyler Turley - 4th
285 lbs - Senior Chad McLean - 3rd
Last winter, Hobart placed 14th overall and placed only 2 on the podium ... looks like the construction taking place on the 2019-2020 #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 next stop for Hobart is a home dual meet against #3-ranked Crown Point NEXT FRIDAY NIGHT! You don't want to miss this one - I recommend getting to HHS early to make sure you can find a seat.
#BRICKRODE
Words of Wisdom from the legend Al Smith proving once again that sports are about so much more than wins & losses
Swimming & Diving
I think it's safe to say that they weren't "board" :)
#JUSTKEEPSWIMMING
Sports Schedule This Week
JV Boys Basketball @ Lake Station Trny
Tuesday
No Events Scheduled
Wednesday
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Thursday
No Events Scheduled
Friday
Wrestling vs. Crown Point
Saturday
Girls Swimming & Diving - Hobart Winterfest Invitational
Boys Swimming & Diving - Hobart Winterfest Invitational
Boys Basketball vs. Valparaiso (2 PM JV start)