Michael "Air" Jordan turned 62 last Monday, which means he can technically start collecting social security. Granted, his current net worth is around 3.5 billion, so he may hold off on collecting for a few years :). As far as sports go, he is known as one of the best competitors EVER ...and whenever there is competition, adversity is always near. "His Airness" knew a thing or two about overcoming it to find success.

"Obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it or work around it."

In a week where Mother Nature tried to freeze us in our tracks, the Brickies figured out how to overcome it and still do some pretty amazing WORK WORK WORK!

Now that we've thawed out a bit ... it's time for BricksCenter!

TWWWOOOOOOOOOO Brickies headed to Indianapolis on Friday for the IHSAA STATE FINALS! After a proper parade through the school and a police escort out of town on Thursday, junior Aiden Granger (190lbs) & senior Luke Juris (285lbs) were on the mat at Indiana's biggest stage for the first time in each of their careers ...and they made us PROUD!

16 individuals from each weight class qualify for state. 1st round action on Friday eliminates half of the competitors and those who get compete Saturday are guaranteed a top-8 finish, which means PODIUM and ALL-STATE!

On Friday, Granger was up first against fellow junior Xavier Palacios from Bellmont, who came in with a record of 46-6. Palacios got the upper hand early and in spite of Aiden's effort & intensity, he fell by pin, which brought an end to a FANTASTIC junior season that saw him win 27 matches, individual championships in the NCC, IHSAA Sectional AND Regional ...and finish at the state finals!

Juris was up next. His opponent was Maximus Forrester from Brownsburg ...another senior trying to finish his career with a medal around his neck. Forrester entered the contest with a record of 37-4 after claiming an individual semi-state title a week ago. Luke BATTLED HARD against Forrester, who probably out-weighted him by 15 or more pounds, and went the distance!! Unfortunately, when the buzzer sounded at the end of the 3rd & final period, the scoreboard showed a 7-3 win by Forrester, who ended up 3rd overall in Indiana - losing only to the eventual state champion. In the 3 matches won by Forrester, Luke battled him the toughest! Luke finished his senior year with 30 wins, All-NCC recognition and individual titles in the IHSAA Sectional and Regional!!

I've said it before and I'll say it again - there is no better place to finish the season than at the state finals. CONGRATULATIONS to both Aiden & Luke for representing us so well at STATE ... to Coach Johansen & staff for another UNBELIEVABLE winter of wrestling ... WE ARE SO PROUD OF YOU!!!

#WORKWORKWORK

The Valparaiso Aquatic Center ...aka "The VAC" ... was the site for the 2025 IHSAA Boys Swimming & Diving Sectional!

For swimming & diving, the IHSAA organizes it's sectional competition into 2 sessions ... preliminaries and finals. Thursday night included swimming prelims ... Saturday morning held the diving prelims ... and THE FINALS took place Saturday afternoon in front of a PACKED HOUSE in The VAC!! There are no "regionals" or "semi-state" in swimming, competitors that either place 1st in their event or achieve a "state cut" qualifying time advance directly to the STATE FINALS held next weekend in Indy. For diving, the top 4 scorers advance to a mid-week regional ... also hosted by Valpo High School ... and the top 8 from regionals move on to STATE.

Make sense? Of course it does :) ... now let's see how the Brickies did!

Out of 14 teams in attendance, Hobart placed 5th OVERALL with a team total of 172 points!

The host Vikings wracked up 499 points - over 100 more than 2nd place Chesterton - and took home the trophy ... their 2nd consecutive championship.

Some highlights in the water from the 2-day competition include the Hobart 200-yd Free Relay team composed of sophomore Evan Harness, juniors Durgon Click & Jaden Cano and senior Christian Kertz dropping a season-best time to place 3rd ... Harness swimming PERSONAL BEST times in BOTH the 200-yd IM (8th) and the 500-yd Free (7th) to finish on the podium in both events ... Click swimming a PR in the 100-yd Free for a podium finish (8th) ... the 200-yd Medley Relay team consisting of Harness, Click, Cano & Kertz touching the pad in a SEASON BEST time to place 5th overall ... and the 400-yd Freestyle Relay team cutting a RIDICULOUS 9 SECONDS off their SEASON BEST to claim 8th place overall!! The 400-yd Free Relay team included senior Antonio Mandich, junior Lu Cohen, sophomore Zeb Clay & freshman Landon Neace!!

In the diving portion, sophomore Aiden Bailey, the Chairman of the Board, was MAGNIFICENT ... scored 334.05 points through 11 dives ... and QUALIFIED for the IHSAA REGIONAL!! He will now dive on Tuesday over at Valparaiso with a chance to punch his ticket to Indy and the IHSAA STATE FINALS!! UNBELIEVABLE!!

What a day to be a Brickie! Our boys SHINED in front of the HUGE crowds over at the VAC!!

GOOD LUCK to Aiden on Tuesday ...and CONGRATULATIONS to all of our Brickies on a FANTASTIC season in the water!!

#JUSTKEEPSWIMMING

#LICENSETODIVE

Tuesday night took our girls to Crown Point to face the defending IHSAA State Champions in non-conference action. Still battling some nagging injuries, the Lady Bricks did not compete with a full team, but the girls that tumbled, twisted & jumped were FANTASTIC!! Super sophomores Avrie Robb & Kaya Goodpaster each placed in the top 11 of the all-around competition with multiple individuals from area schools also in attendance! Avrie finished 8th overall with a score of 30.550 (11th on bars, 12th on vault & floor, 16th on beam) ... Kaya was 11th in the all-around after compiling a score of 29.350 (12th on beam, 14th on bars, 15th on floor, 16th on vault) ...and senior Elizabeth Crespo - competing in two events - placed 11th on the vault and 15th on beam! The defending state champion Bulldogs were impressive ...scoring 111.800 as a team and placing 1-3 in the all-around competition. Coach Crespo had this to say about our girls, "The girls did really well overall - routines looked clean and showed improvement!"

Next up will be a home contest vs Lake Central on Tuesday and another trip to the Hub City (Crown Point) on Saturday for the IHSAA Sectional. GOOD LUCK LADIES!!

#STICKIT

On Thursday night, the Brickies hit the road ... Ridge Road that is ... over to Highland for a HUGE Northwest Crossroads Conference matchup! In a fast-paced first 8 minutes, Hobart hung 17 points and led by 1. The Bricks turned up the D-D-D-DEFENSE in the 2nd stanza ...holding the hosts to just 10 points while scoring 15 of our own to take a 32-26 advantage into the locker room! The 3rd quarter was INTENSE as the Trojans tried to battle back into the contest, but our boys HELD THEIR GROUND and clung to a 5-point cushion heading into the final period of play at 45-40. With the game on the line, the Brickies were as cool as the other side of the pillow ...controlled the tempo, got stops when they needed to and came home with an IMPRESSIVE 55-45 VICTORY!! Senior Aidan Leonard had a MONSTER game with 16 points, 10 rebounds and 4 steals!! Junior Ryan Basham scorched the nets for 13 points ... senior Felix Lopez added 10 points & 7 rebounds and junior Jordan Johnson dished out a game-high 7 assists to help our boys secure their 8th win of the year!

Saturday brought with it a quick road trip across I-65 to face the Merrillville Pirates. The hosts jumped ahead early with some pressure defense & hot shooting to gain a 22-12 advantage after 1 quarter. Hobart settled down in the 2nd quarter and matched the Pirates basket-for-basket to stay within striking distance at the half. In the 3rd quarter, it was Merrillville once again clicking on all cylinders on both ends ...increasing their lead to 58-36 heading into the final period of play. Fortunately for Brickie fans, OUR BOYS NEVER QUIT!! The Bricks put on a FURIOUS rally over the final 8 minutes... playing with their heart on their sleeve & leaving everything they had on the floor ... coming all the way back to get within range - only to run out of time and suffer a 62-70 defeat. If there had been 2 more minutes on the clock, who knows what might've been. Basham finished with a team-high 26 points & 5 rebounds ... Johnson combined with classmate Erik Kingery to hand out 10 assists, score 11 points & pull down rebounds ... and Leonard added 8 points & 4 rebounds in the loss.

Hobart is now 8-14 overall with just one game remaining before IHSAA Tournament play begins over at Valparaiso High School in a little over a week. The Bricks will host Whiting on Tuesday for SENIOR NIGHT!! Let's pack the stands and help send our seniors out in style!

#HEGOTGAME

On average, only about 1 in 13 high school athletes get the chance to compete at the next level, which is about 7%. This covers all divisions of the NCAA (I, II & III), NAIA and the Junior College level. So, when our Brickies get that opportunity, we CELEBRATE!!

Tuesday evening, Brickie senior Dillon Hatchett signed his letter of intent to continue his academic and athletic career at Calumet College of St Joseph! Dillon, a multi-sport athlete for the Brickies, will lace them up for the Crimson Wave next year in Spring Football! Cal College is a member of the NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) and competes in the MSFL (Midwest Sprint Football League).

Dillon is a 3-year letterwinner in football for the Brickies and has competed in both boys volleyball and track & field during his time here at HHS!

CONGRATULATIONS DILLON!! WE ARE VERY PROUD OF YOU AND EXTREMELY EXCITED TO SEE WHAT YOU DO AT THE NEXT LEVEL!!

#COLLEGE

No Events Scheduled

Tuesday

Aiden Bailey @ IHSAA DIVING REGIONAL (Hosted by Valparaiso High School)

Boys Basketball vs. Whiting (SENIOR NIGHT)

Gymnastics vs. Lake Central

Wednesday

No Events Scheduled

Thursday

No Events Scheduled

Friday

No Events Scheduled

Saturday

Gymnastics @ IHSAA SECTIONAL (Hosted by Crown Point High School)

Aiden Bailey @ IHSAA STATE FINALS (IU Natatorium, Indianapolis) *IF he advances on Tuesday