BricksCenter

As nice as it would be to re-enter the world around us slowly after a 5 day break, Brickie winter sports were in action 4 out of 6 days this past week and our kids were FANTASTIC! Wrestling, Basketball & Swimming OH MY! H-town saw a little bit of everything ... concluding with girls wrestling @ Penn, boys cagers at Portage, and our boys wrestlers looking to HARVEST a championship over at Lake Central!

I'm so excited I could eat invisible cereal ... it's time for BricksCenter!

Girls

On Tuesday night, the Brickies hosted an NCC double-dual meet with Kankakee Valley and Lowell for the 1st conference competition of the year. Our girls SHINED in front of a great crowd, but fell short on the scoreboard against both the Kougars (107-70) & Devils (131-51). Hobart got 2nd place finishes in 4 events ... sophomore Kacey Fleming in the 1-meter dive, classmate Cassie Cohen in the 100 Breast, freshman Cassie Owens in the 100 Back, and the 200 Medley Relay team of senior Marie White, junior Brogan McDonald and the two Cassie's ... Cohen & Owens!

Here are some additional results from Tuesday's NCC opener:

200 Free - 4th = McDonald, 7th = senior Sydney Johnston

200 IM - 3rd = Owens, 6th = White

50 Free - 5th = senior Mia Luczak, 6th = junior Evangeline Clay

Diving - 2nd = Fleming, 3rd = sophomore Elliana Crespo, 6th = junior Alyssa Meinert

100 Fly - 4th = White

100 Free - 6th = Cohen, 8th = Luczak

500 Free - 3rd = McDonald

200 Free Relay - 4th = Owens, White, Cohen & McDonald

100 Back - 2nd = Owens, 7th = Clay

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

Thursday night, Hobart hosted Knox High School for a non-conference meet. The Brickies were AWESOME and literally left the Redskins in their WAKE ... winning 96-56! OUTSTANDING!! Individual event winners from Thursday include Owens (200 IM & 100 Back), White (100 Fly), Crespo (1 mtr Dive) and Cohen (100 Free)! Our girls also won both the 200 Medley Relay (Owens, Cohen, White & McDonald) and 200 Free Relay (Owens, Cohen, White & McDonald)!! WHAT A NIGHT!!

The Lady Brickies are 1-2 on the season ... 0-2 in NCC action ... and will be back in the water on Thursday against Crown Point!

Boys

Tuesday's 1st conference meet of the season was coed as our boys joined the girls in facing KV & Lowell. Seeing as how this was also our 1st overall meet of the winter, the Brickies were anxious to compete! Much like the girls, our boys SHINED BRIGHT! Hobart got victories from senior Ethan Robles in 1 meter diving, classmate Brett Herrin in the 500 Free, freshman Evan Harness in the 200 IM, and the boys 400 Free Relay team composed of sophomores Jaden Cano & Durgon Click and seniors Ayden Witting & Brett Herrin!! With so many FANTASTIC performances, the Brickies caged the Kougars by a 105-79 score and nearly pulled off the DOUBLE W ... losing a heartbreaker to Lowell 93-92. Lots of potential in this group ... they are clearly putting in the WORK WORK WORK to be their best!

Here are some additional results from Tuesday's meet:

200 Medley Relay - 2nd = junior Christian Kertz, Herrin, Cano & Harness

200 Free - 2nd = Click, 6th = senior AJ Garibay, 9th = freshman Connor Brum

200 IM - 1st = Harness, 6th = sophomore Lu Cohen

50 Free - 2nd = Kertz, 4th = Click, 7th = senior Vinny Gutierrez

Diving - 1st = senior Robles, 5th = junior Kael Schlosser, 7th = freshman Aiden Bailey

100 Fly - 5th = Cohen, 6th = Witting, 7th = senior Travis Balding

100 Free - 3rd = Kertz, 4th = Cano, 8th = Witting

500 Free - 1st = Herrin, 2nd = Harness, 5th = Garibay

200 Free Relay - 2nd = Witting, Click, Harness & Kertz, 4th = Balding, Gutierrez, Cohen & freshman Zeb Clay

100 Back - 2nd = Cano, 4th = Gutierrez

100 Breast - 2nd = Herrin, 6th = Balding, 9th = Brum

Thursday's meet vs. Knox was also coed and our boys were able to match the girls with a DOMINANT VICTORY! The scoreboard showed Hobart 133, Knox 43 when it was all said and done. HOLY SCHNIKES!! Individual winners for the Brickies were Witting (200 Free), Harness (200 IM), Kertz (50 Free & 100 Free), Robles (1 mtr Dive), Cohen (100 Fly), Herrin (500 Free & 100 Breast), and Cano (100 Back)!! Our boys also got the brooms out and swept ALL 3 RELAYS ... 200 Medley (Cano, Herrin, Harness & Kertz), 200 Free (Click, Harness, Herrin & Kertz) & 400 Free (Witting, Cano, Cohen & Click)!!

The Brickies are 2-1 on the season so far and 1-1 in NCC action! They will join the girls against Crown Point on Thursday. LET'S GOOOOOOO!!!

#JUSTKEEPSWIMMING

Girls

On Saturday, our girls traveled to Penn High School to compete in the Sarah Hildebrandt Invitational with 56 other schools from around the state! No team scores were kept, but the Brickies put individuals on the medal stand in 8 different weight classes!! WOW - that's AWESOME!! Sensational sophomores Joanna Cantu & Maddie Lams each placed 2nd in their respective weight classes and senior Alyssa Adams & junior Gabby Reyes wrestled their way into the top 4 of theirs!!

Here is the breakdown by weight-class for those who made the medal stand:

100A - sophomore Allie Snyder - 7th

110A - sophomore Joanna Cantu - 2nd

115B - senior Ella Hornak - 6th

120B - sophomore Maddie Lams - 2nd

125B - senior Jillian Wilkinson - 6th

140A - senior Alyssa Adams - 4th

145A - junior Gabby Reyes - 4th

235B - sophomore Lena Raygoza - 8th

Overall, it was a GREAT experience for our girls to compete against such a talented pool of grapplers with the state tournament just a month away! The Brickies will HOST Illiana Christian & Rensselaer on Thursday - BE THERE!!

Boys

The Bricks had TWWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOO meets this past week and our boys SHINED in both!

Thursday night, the Bricks opened the 2023-2024 season at home against the Hammond Morton Governors. Out of 10 matches wrestled, our boys won 9 ... ALL BY PIN ... and coasted to a DOMINANT 78-6 VICTORY!! Hobart scored varsity wins by juniors Seth Aubin (113), Daniel McGill (132), Cole Weber (144), Aidan Costello (175) & Luke Juris (HWT) ... sophomores Zach Felty (150), Jayden Azcona (165), & Josh Diaz (215) ... and freshman newcomer Aleks Tatum (190)!

On Saturday, the Hobart grapplers headed west on HWY 30 to St. John and Lake Central High School for the Harvest Classic! This was just the second meet of the season for our guys and with area powerhouse programs like Portage and Lake Central competing ... along with the monster from Mishawaka (Penn High School) ... our boys were put to the test! After over a month of practice, the Brickies were hungry (... isn't that always the case for wrestlers?) and competed extremely well! Junior Aidan Costello ... a 2023 state medalist last winter ... WON the 175-lb TITLE with a PIN less than a minute into the championship round! Classmate Seth Aubin ... also a 2023 state medalist ... WON the 120-lb TITLE in a 2-1 nailbiter over senior Aiden Dallinger from McCutcheon!! Hobart got 2nd place finishes from Mata (126), McGill (132) & Tatum (190) and saw Diaz (215), Juris (285) & freshman Blake Doeing (106) also on the medal stand with top 4 finishes!! Overall, the Brickies finished with 183.0 team points to place 3rd in the 16-team field! Penn won their second straight overall title with a team total of 235 points ... Lake Central was 2nd with 217 points.

Here is the breakdown by weight-class for those who made the medal stand:

106 - freshman Blake Doeing - 4th

120 - junior Seth Aubin - CHAMPION

126 - junior Daniel Mata - 2nd

132 - junior Daniel McGill - 2nd

175 - junior Aidan Costello - CHAMPION

190 - freshman Aleks Tatum - 2nd

215 - sophomore Josh Diaz - 4th

285 - junior Luke Juris - 3rd

The 1st TWWWOOOOOOOOO meets of the year were good ones. Next week the Brickies travel to Lowell for the first NCC dual meet of the year and then head to Merrillville for the Tom Cameron Invite. With TWWWOOOOOOOO more chances to compete on the schedule, it looks like another GREAT week to be a wrestler! LET'S GO BRICKS!

#BRICKIETOUGH

The Brickies had just one contest on the schedule this past week ... a Tuesday night matchup over at Portage.

On Tuesday night, the wheels on the Hobart bus went 'round and 'round over to Porter County as the Brickies visited Portage High School to square off with the 4-1 Indians. Last season, these two teams split their two matchups with Hobart winning during the regular season and Portage getting some revenge in the IHSAA Sectional semifinal. In the first quarter, play was literally back-and-forth and after 8 minutes, the scoreboard showed a slim 16-14 advantage for the host Indians. In the 2nd stanza, the Brickie D-D-D-DEFENSE SHINED ... holding Portage to just 7 points while our girls notched 11 of their own to take a 25-23 lead into the halftime locker room!! Portage came out with some stellar D-D-D-DEFENSE of their own in the 3rd and regained the lead, 36-33, heading into the final period. Over the last 8 minutes, our girls BATTLED HARD, but couldn't quite grab control and ultimately the Indians were able to salt this one away down the stretch and win a really good game by a final score of 54-41. Senior Cailey Weber led the Brickies with a team-high 14 points ... sophomore Riley Weber cleaned the glass for a team-high 12 rebounds and senior Emma Ortiz boasted 7 rebounds and a team-high 4 assists in the loss.

The Brickies are now 4-5 overall and remain 0-1 in NCC play. Hobart will return home this upcoming week for contests against Illiana Christian and Kankakee Valley. GOOD LUCK LADIES!!

#SHEGOTGAME

Boys

On Wednesday night, Hobart played the role of host to the South Central Satellites out of the Porter County Conference. Early on, the Satellites were hitting from the perimeter to take a 10-6 lead after 1 quarter. The pace continued through the next 8 minutes and at the half, our boys trailed 15-23. Coming out of the locker room, the Brickies began to claw their way back into it ... one possession at a time! Hobart gained back 5 points in the 3rd and trailed just 25-28 heading into the final quarter of play!! The last 8 minutes were INTENSE ... right until the final buzzer sounded!! Down 39-34 late, the Brickies went on a 7-2 run - capped by junior Felix Lopez who drained a 3-pointer with just under a minute remaining - to tie things up at 41-41!!! WOW!! South Central would hold for a late shot and took a 42-41 lead on a FT. Hobart got the ball back with under 10 seconds for one final shot, but the attempt unfortunately missed the mark and the game ended in heartbreaking 42-41 defeat. Senior Anthony Hnilo notched a double-double with 14 points & 10 rebounds and classmate Caleb Mamushe & Lopez each tallied 9 points in the loss.

Saturday afternoon, the Brickies traveled to Portage to battle the Indians. On a day when Portage celebrated 100 years of basketball at PHS, it was Hobart that led 8-5 after 8 minutes of play! Our boys were animated on defense, poised on offense and got an old-fashioned 3-point-play from Hnilo that beat the 1st quarter buzzer to claim the 3-point advantage!! An exciting 2nd stanza saw the nets burning on both ends as each offense began to heat up! The halftime scoreboard showed a slim 24-22 lead for the host Indians. Unfortunately, Portage came out of the break with a renewed energy ... created some havoc with their pressure defense ... and seemingly hit every shot they took over the course of the second half to run away from the Brickies for a 73-41 win. Lopez led Hobart with 12 points ... junior Aidan Leonard also reached double figures with 10 points and sophomore Erik Kingery added 9 pts & 3 assists in the loss.

Hobart is now 1-3 on the year and will be back in action twice over the next 6 days ... hosting Calumet on Tuesday and neighborhood rival River Forest on Saturday for the 13th Annual Silent Night Game. GO GET 'EM GUYS!!

#BRICKIEUP

It's the MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR!!!

That's right Brickie fans ... the 13th Annual SILENT NIGHT GAME will be played on Saturday, December 9th when Hobart faces River Forest!! This is a FAVORITE holiday tradition @ HHS where students wearing costumes get in for $1 ... remain silent until Hobart's 8th point is scored ... and then GO ABSOLUTELY CRAZY!!! It's holiday cheer, creativity, and end-of-the-semester relief all rolled into an epic game of basketball!!

Quick Facts

• 8th-point celebration started in 2012, with students attending game in costumes & pajamas
• Hobart defeated Hammond Clark in the FIRST EVER Silent Night game 64-51
• Hobart fans remain silent until the 8th point is scored
• Students sing the first verse of "Silent Night" in unison to end the game
• Always played around the holiday break/end of 1st semester

Our first SHOUT OUT this week is for Coach A ... who serves both XC in the fall and Track & Field in the spring. Coach was recently recognized by the IATCCC! Coach A is a Brickie staple when it comes to training runners and under his guidance, Hobart has had representatives at the IHSAA XC State Finals 12 times over the last 17 years and our boys track teams have won 7 NCC titles over the last 13 years! Coach A was the 2011 NWI Times XC Coach of the Year and the 2012-2013 Ball State Alumni Coach of the Year!! I think it's safe to say that this is a well-deserved recognition ... not just for longevity, but for EXCELLENCE!!!

Speaking of XC, our next SHOUT OUT is for sophomore Cassie Cohen for earning ALL-STATE HONORABLE MENTION for Cross Country!! Cassie is a 2-time State Finalist and has won titles at the Hobart Invite, Highland Invite, Bob Thomas Invite, Northwest Crossroads Conference Championship Meet, IHSAA Sectional & IHSAA Regional ... not to mention she is also a 2-time IHSAA Track & Field State Finalist!! WAY TO GO CASSIE!!

9th Girls Basketball @ Chesterton

9th Boys Basketball @ Chesterton

9th Wrestling @ Crown Point

Tuesday

Boys Basketball vs. Calumet

Wednesday

Girls Basketball vs. Illiana Christian

9th Boys Basketball @ River Forest

Thursday

Girls Swimming & Diving vs. Crown Point

Boys Swimming & Diving vs. Crown Point

Girls Wrestling vs. Illiana Christian/Rensselaer

Boys Wrestling @ Lowell *

9th Girls Basketball @ Crown Point

Friday

Girls Basketball vs. Kankakee Valley *

Saturday

Boys Basketball vs. River Forest (SILENT NIGHT GAME)

Boys Wrestling @ Tom Cameron Invite (Hosted by Merrillville High School)

JV Boys Wrestling @ LaPorte Invite

* = NCC Opponent