BricksCenter

13-time NBA Champion and Hall of Famer Phil Jackson won more NBA Championships as a coach (11) than anyone in history. Known as the "Zen Master" for not only his basketball knowledge, but also for his ability to connect with his players and build great teams. One of my favorite Phil Jackson quotes goes like this:

“The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team.”

A HUGE part of education-based athletics in high school is for student athletes to become part of something bigger than themselves, which teaches them sacrifice, accountability, and playing a role to help others. These are great lessons that build great teams ... and our kids will use them throughout their lives in their family, job and community.

Our Brickies have been working hard to build strong connections in all of our fall sports and their effort is paying off in the results!!

Our team is on the floor ... and it's time for BricksCenter!

One of my favorite quotes from fictitious golf legend Roy "Tin Cup" McAvoy from the movie Tin Cup is this:

"I hit it again because that shot was a defining moment, and when a defining moment comes along, you define the moment... or the moment defines you."

Well, this past week our Lady Bricks embraced this approach and DEFINED THE MOMENT!!

On Tuesday, 18 holes awaited at Scherwood Golf Course in Schererville for the Northwest Crossroads Conference Championship! A neutral site makes a big difference in golf, but our girls were READY TO ROLL and a shotgun start a little after 8:30am gave all competitors a chance to take advantage of a B-E-A-UTIFUL day on the course!

Led by freshman Corrine Oswald with a 105, the Brickies were FANTASTIC!! A year ago, our girls shot a team score of 484. Tuesday, they collectively shot a 445 ... a 39-stroke IMPROVEMENT!! WOW!! With such a FANTASTIC score, our girls placed 3rd overall in the team standings - our BEST IN SCHOOL HISTORY as members of the NCC!!! Senior Lily Ullrich, juniors Makenzie Johnston & Marisa Salamanca ... along with sophomore Belle Zabrecky ... rounded out the varsity lineup and helped deliver such a great finish for Hobart! Corrine was recognized as 2nd Team All-NCC for her 11th place finish!! Lily finished 14th overall (...just 1 stroke from an All-NCC nod) and Makenzie was right behind her in 16th! WHAT A DAY TO BE A BRICKIE!!

Wednesday, Merrillville was the opponent as our girls were right back at Scherwood, but this time it was on the Executive Course (par 30). On the shortened course, the Brickies SHINED BRIGHT with a 202-214 VICTORY!! Salamanca was the first into the clubhouse for Hobart with a 48!! Ullrich was next with a 50 followed by Johnston (51) & Oswald (53)!

The Bricks will wrap up the regular season this upcoming week with a match against Boone Grove and our 2nd annual Family Scramble ... before heading to the Valparaiso Country Club for IHSAA Sectional play on Monday, 9/22!

GOOD LUCK LADIES!!

#DEFINETHEMOMENT

Girls

On Tuesday, the Brickies took a trip to New Prairie for the Cougar Kick-Off Classic. The course at NP is LEGENDARY and always an adventure with named sections like "The Snake" and "Agony Hill". New Prairie is also the site of the IHSAA Regional ... one step before the State Finals ... somewhere these girls hope to be running in late October! Senior Cassie Cohen finished 3rd overall and was joined in the top 20 by classmate Aalliah Otero (18th)!! Seniors Audrey Turley (27th) & Millie Massey (40th) and sophomore Lilliana Lopez (34th) completed the varsity lineup for the Bricks. Hobart placed 4th overall as a team behind meet champion South Bend St. Joseph, the host Cougars, and South Bend Adams.

These girls can run and even though we're only halfway through the season, this group of harriers looks like it could be DANGEROUS when the post-season comes around!! RUN BRICKIES RUN!!

Boys

After placing 2nd at the Hobart Invite a week ago, the Brickies were hoping for more improvement on Tuesday at New Prairie. In another strong performance, senior Lu Cohen (14th) cracked the top 20 and junior Nolan Shaginaw (25th) ran through the finish as a member of the top 25! Classmate Jerry Theodorakos was next into the chute in 28th with fellow junior Evan Harness (38th) and senior Mason Thorpe (42nd) rounding out the Brickie lineup!

Our boys are showing some SERIOUS POTENTIAL ... can't wait to see how they continue to improve over the next few weeks!!

Next weekend the Brickie harriers (girls & boys) will head back to New Prairie for THE LARGEST INVITATIONAL in Northern Indiana! The best of the best will be there so we'll get a potential preview of how the Brickies stack up against state caliber competition! GOOD LUCK!

#GRATEFULLYDEDICATEDXC

On Friday night at Fred Jones Field in DeMotte, our Brickies squared off with the Kankakee Valley Kougars in week 4 of the regular season.

Hobart received the opening kick off and marched right down the field with a nice mix of offense to score on a short run by sophomore Miles White for an early 7-0 lead! After forcing a punt by the Kougars, the Brickies drove the field again and found the endzone for the 2nd time when junior QB Aleks Tatum hit classmate Aiden Kasch for a 19-yard score! On KV's next possession, junior Nathan Sobczynski intercepted a pass to give our boys the ball back ... and immediately Tatum found junior Stephen Miller behind the defense for a 55-yard TOUCHDOWN!! When junior kicker Peter Janda sent the point after through the uprights, it was 21-0 Brickies before the end of the first quarter!! WOW!!

Neither team got much going in the 2nd stanza and they headed to the halftime locker room with the scoreboard still showing a 21-0 Brickie advantage.

Over the final two quarters of play, our boys would tack on 3 more scores to invoke the IHSAA Mercy Rule (running clock in the 2nd half) and headed back north with a 40-7 VICTORY!!

Here are some standout statistics from Friday's NCC win:

Miles White - 8 rushes, 120 yds, 2 TDs + 10 total tackles on defense

Aiden Kasch - 11 rushes, 107 yds, 1 catch, 18 yds, 1 TD

Aleks Tatum - 4 TD throws

Bryce Tolliver - 3 catches for 83 yds

Josh Diaz - 13 total tackles

Vontrell Jones - 11 total tackles

The Bricks are now 4-0 on the year and 2-0 in Northwest Crossroads Conference play! Hobart will travel to Father Eckert Field on 5959 Broadway on Friday to face arch rival and Class 2A #5-ranked Andrean. This one should be fun - BE THERE!!

#DOUBTUS

It was another EXHAUSTING week for our Lady Brickies on the hardcourt ... 3 consecutive matches on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday followed by a tournament @ Chesterton on Saturday meant the our girls would be put to the test. Good news? Hobart showed a great WORK WORK WORK ethic and collective growth as a team in persevering the challenging 5-day stretch!

On Tuesday, the Brickies traveled to face NCC rival Highland. After battling Merrillville & Andrean HARD a week ago, Hobart's improved play continued against the Trojans with a 3-0 SWEEP!!! Our girls won 25-18, 25-20 & 25-16 to pick up the conference VICTORY!! Junior Alissa Hope recorded a team-high 11 kills and senior Riley Weber finished with 8 to go along with her 10 digs! Senior Kalli Butcher led the Bricks with 15 assists and junior Marin Ray backed her up with 11 in the win.

Wednesday, Hobart welcomed the Morton Governors to The Friendly City for a non-conference matchup! When these two teams faced off at the Hobart Invite back on August 23rd, the Brickies won in 2 competitive games (25-18, 25-19). In the rematch, Grammy award winning singer/songwriter Alicia Keys might say that our girls were on fire! Hobart CRUISED to wins in the first two sets 25-10 & 25-9 ... WOW! Morton battled throughout and tried to make a comeback in the 3rd set - keeping it closer until the end when our girls won 25-18 for the 3-0 sweep. The Brickies got contributions from EVERYONE to pick up their 2nd consecutive 3-0 win in as many nights!!

On Thursday, Kankakee Valley came to town riding on a yellow bus for another HUGE NCC contest. The Brickies came out FIRING on ALL CYLINDERS and WON the first set 25-21!! The visitors rallied to win the 2nd set to ties things up at 1-1. Play was back-and-forth over the next two sets with each team making plays ... unfortunately, it was the Kougars who made a few more than the Bricks to secure the overall 3-1 win.

Saturday, the Chesterton Trojans Volleyball Invitational pitted the Lady Brickies against some pretty good local schools for pool play. In a busy day of competition, Hobart opened up against Class 4A #6-ranked Chesterton and fell in 2 games. Next up was Class 1A #11-ranked Marquette Catholic, who also defeated the Bricks 2-0. Unfortunately, no other results were available at the time of publication.

The Lady Brickies are continuing to develop and improve as the schedule shifts to the 2nd half of the regular season. Thus far, Hobart is 6-9 overall and 1-3 in NCC play. Another BIG week lies ahead - YOU CAN DO IT LADIES!!

#CANYOUDIGIT

The Brickie raqueteers had a BUSY week with 3 matches in 3 days and a tournament on Saturday! With the season reaching the midway point, it was a GREAT week to see where we are and what we can do to prepare for sectional play!

Tuesday, Hobart was at Highland for a critical Northwest Crossroads Conference match. Right from the start, our boys were FOCUSED and DETERMINED ... and it showed in the results! The Brickies picked up wins at #1 (senior Gabe Gutierrez) and #3 (sophomore Mav Becerra) singles, but the host Trojans earned W's @ both doubles spots ... including a 3rd set tiebreaker at #2. With the team score knotted at 2-2, it came down to senior Cash Salunga @ #2 singles. His counterpart from Highland won the first set 2-6. Cash won the 2nd set 7-5 ... and they were tied 5-5 in the 3rd set but had to pause the match due to darkness (Highland does not have lights at their complex). Therefore, this one will have to resume play on another date.

On Wednesday, the Brickies welcomed neighborhood rival River Forest to H-town and got the brooms out in a 5-0 SWEEP of the Ingots! Gutierrez won 6-3, 6-1 @ #1 singles and Hobart won 6-0, 6-0 at all other varsity spots! WOW!!

Thursday, the Brickies visited NCC powerhouse Munster. The Mustangs loaded lineup controlled the net and handed our boys a tough 5-0 loss.

Saturday, Hobart headed west to Highland for a doubles invitational. Unfortunately, Mother Nature had other plans and this was cancelled due to inclement weather (... it was raining cats & dogs).

Hobart is now 6-3 overall and 1-3 in NCC action ... still needing to complete the final match from the contest vs Highland. Our boys will be put to the test this upcoming week with 4 matches on 4 straight days. GO GET 'EM BOYS!!

#ACES

After competing only once all of last week, the pace picked up for our girls this past week with 4 games in 6 days!

On Monday, Hobart welcomed the Griffith Panthers to The Brickyard for a non-conference matchup. The Brickies got it going early and often with 4 GOOOOOOOOOAAALLS in the first 40 minutes of play and 6 more after halftime en route to an IMPRESSIVE 10-3 VICTORY!! Junior Kurah Krucina netted 5 of her own and dished out an assist ... classmate Addy Hendricks & sophomore Rylee Christman each scored twice ... and sophomore Sophie Harris added one in the win! Sophomore London Hacker finished with 3 saves protecting the net for the Brickie D!

Tuesday night, Hanover Central was the opponent in a HUGE NCC contest. The 'Cats entered the contest undefeated in conference play and having only one blemish on their record for the year. Throughout the game, both D-D-D-DEFENSES were DIALED IN protecting the goal and even though each squad had a few chances to find the net, neither was able to score. After 80 minutes of play, the scoreboard showed a 0-0 tie ... and since this was a conference game, all fans in attendance got the bonus package - OVERTIME!!! In two 7-minute OT sessions, once again the defenses RULED THE DAY and the score was still 0-0 ... sending the game into PKs to determine the winner! Hanover scored on their first 4 kicks and the Brickies were only able to find the net twice, which meant the Wildcats would leave town with the win ... a heartbreaker for our girls. Still, the experience of playing in this kind of game ... having to play extra minutes and perform under pressure should help prepare us for what we might see down the road in the post season. It was a tough loss no doubt, but what we learn from it will be a positive.

On Thursday, the Brickies were on the road at Bishop Noll ... and whatever frustration our girls had from not scoring on Tuesday was taken out on the Warriors!! Hobart scored 6 first half GOOOOOOOOAALLS and tacked on 3 more for good measure in the 2nd half to earn an easy 9-0 VICTORY!! Krucina again led the charge with 4 scores and 3 assists ... Christman & classmate Val Rodriguez each scored twice and combined for 3 assists ... and Harris added a goal in the shutout win!

To close a busy week of competition, our girls visited rival Portage on Saturday afternoon. In what is ALWAYS a close, hard fought contest, the Brickies & Indians truly BATTLED .. both each other and the humidity after morning storms ... for 80 minutes! The host Indians tallied 3 goals in the first half to claim an early advantage that was too much for our girls to overcome. Hobart was able to cut into the Portage lead with a 2nd half goal, but that's as close as it got in a 3-1 defeat.

The Brickies are now 5-4 overall and 1-2 in NCC play. Andrean and Hammond Central await this upcoming week - GOOD LUCK LADIES!!

Boys

The Brickie futbol team had two HUGE games this past week ... an NCC challenge @ Class 2A #4-ranked Hanover Central on Wednesday and a visit from Portage Saturday.

Wednesday, the Hanover Central Wildcats hosted the Brickies on their senior night. The hosts came out with emotion & intensity right from the first touch ... scored 3 goals in the first 15 minutes of play and never looked back. Over the final 65 minutes, our boys FOUGHT HARD, but the early deficit was too much to overcome and ultimately fell by a final score of 5-0.

On Saturday, Hobart welcomed potential IHSAA Sectional opponent Portage to The Brickyard for a non-conference game. The Brickies were active early ... putting considerable pressure on the net and working well together to create opportunities. Midway through the first half, senior Gabe Rodriguez took advantage of one of those opportunities and scored a GOOOOOOOOOOOAALL to put Hobart ahead 1-0!! Play was INTENSE the rest of the first half as the two squads went back-and-forth trying to seize control. As the contest moved into the final 40 minutes of play, the temperature outside ... as well as the temperature of the players ... heated up! Ultimately, it was the BRICKIES that overall kept their cool ... looked more poised with their passing, spacing, and teamwork ... and played OUTSTANDING D-D-D-DEFENSE to come away with a hard earned 1-0 VICTORY!!! AMAZING!!! Seriously, our boys were LOCKED IN on defense with seniors Tyler Snemis & Kane Garcia ... along with junior Lincoln Miller ... protecting the box and sophomore goalie Michael Klaich providing the anchor in goal - blocking a HUGE penalty kick in the first half! WHAT AN EFFORT BY OUR BOYS!!!

The Bricks are now 2-4-1 so far this year and gaining more positive momentum each time out!! KEEP IT UP BOYS!!

#WEAREONE

Girls Golf vs Boone Grove

Boys Soccer @ Griffith

Boys Tennis vs Hammond Central

Tuesday

Girls Soccer vs Andrean *

Boys Tennis vs Illiana Christian

Girls Volleyball @ Hanover Central *

Wednesday

Girls Volleyball vs Whiting (*Middle School Night)

Boys Soccer @ Andrean *

Boys Tennis @ Wheeler

Thursday

Girls Volleyball vs Lowell *

Boys Tennis @ Andrean *

9th Football @ New Prairie

Friday

Football @ Andrean *

Saturday

Girls Cross Country @ New Prairie Invite

Boys Cross Country @ New Prairie Invite

Girls Soccer @ Hammond Central

Boys Soccer vs Elkhart

JV Football vs Andrean *

* = NCC Opponent