With every ending, there is a new beginning ... and in the same week that we officially closed the book on our winter sports season, another was opened for spring! It seems only fitting that we are also extending daylight hours this weekend by pushing the sunset back as we all set our clocks an hour ahead.

The Brickie cagers entered MARCH MADNESS Indiana style with a sectional semifinal match-up against Merrillville and boys & girls track were OFF AND RUNNING (it's mostly what they do) in their 1st indoor meet of the spring season down at Purdue!!

College Basketball's MARCH MADNESS begins this week with conference tournament play ... BricksCenter begins now!

This year marks the 115th state tournament for boys hoops and Valparaiso High School served as host. Back on February 22nd, Hobart BATTLED Merrillville HARD and lost a tough 70-62 contest on the road. What better place than an IHSAA Sectional Semifinal on Friday night to give our boys an opportunity to avenge the earlier game!

In the first quarter, play was a little sloppy at times as both squads shook out some nervous energy, but the Pirates got just enough 2nd chance points to take an early 16-12 lead. Early in the 2nd quarter, the Bricks found themselves trailing 20-12, but rattled off 8 STRAIGHT POINTS to TIE IT UP @ 20-20 ...forcing a timeout by Merrillville!! Over the final 4 minutes of the first half, the two teams traded baskets and went into the halftime locker room knotted at 26 a piece!

In the 3rd quarter, the Pirates finally started to chip away at the armor of Brickie DEFENSE that was protecting the basket. Over the 8-minute span, Merrillville relentlessly attacked the basket and outscored our boys 21-10 to take a 47-36 edge into the final period. Hobart fought hard throughout ... and never surrendered, but unfortunately could not generate much offense against the athletic Merrillville defense while also having trouble keeping the Pirates out of the lane. Ultimately, Merrillville hit enough FTs down the stretch to secure a 58-46 win. Junior Ryan Basham scored a team-high 15 points ...senior Aidan Leonard notched another DOUBLE DOUBLE with 13 points & 11 rebounds ...and sophomore Paxson Hicko also reached double-figures in the scoring column with 11 to go along with his 3 steals.

It was a tough way to close out the season, but then again, it's always tough when you lace them up for the last time. They say it's the journey that counts, not the destination ... I would have to agree. This team STAYED THE COURSE, KEPT PLAYING ... never allowing adversity to take hold ... and gave it everything they had.
THANK YOU to our boys, Coach Key, and his entire staff for all the time, effort & energy put into the last 4 months!!

#RISETOTHEOCCASION

After a few weeks of practice, the Brickie tracksters were IN ACTION Saturday at Purdue University in West Lafayette for a Hoosier State Relays (HSR) qualifier in historic Lambert Fieldhouse ... LET'S GO!!

The Bricks were so hot they were BOILING down at Purdue! For the ladies, senior Taylor Pope (Shot Put) each placed 10th overall!! If you recall, Taylor was a shot put state finalist in 2023 and a discus state finalist in 2024! Junior Aalliah Otero jumped out of her comfort zone and finished 22nd out of 75 competitors in the 800 and freshman Ella Lopez was FLYING around the track to earn 31st out of 118 runners in the girls 200!! WOW!! On the boys side, senior Kael Schlosser was BRILLIANT! He finished 3rd overall in the long jump and earned 6th in the 55m dash! WOW!! Senior Kolin Gladney placed 18th out of 82 runners in the 1600 and sophomore Bryce Tolliver just missed the finals in the 55m hurdles to finish 13th overall!!

Here are some results from Saturday @ Purdue:

GIRLS

55m Hurdles

sophomore Love Jimenez (24th - 10.75)

200m Dash

freshman Ella Lopez (31st - 28.43)

800m Run

junior Aalliah Otero (22nd - 2:41.55)

Shot Put

senior Taylor Pope (10th - 32'00.5")

BOYS

55m Hurdles

sophomore Bryce Tolliver (13th - 8.63)

55m Dash

senior Kael Schlosser (6th - 6.62)

junior Adrian Stojkoski (25th - 6.88)

800m Run

senior Dane Homoky (31st - 2:16.49)

1600m Run

senior Kolin Gladney (18th - 4:50.73)

senior Dominic Rivera (1st in Heat #1, 66th overall)

Long Jump

senior Kael Schlosser (3rd - 20'03.50")

Shot Put

senior Patrick O'Connor (18th - 40'02")

No team scores were kept as this was simply an opportunity for athletes to qualify individually for the Hoosier State Relays Finals in Indianapolis on March 29th ... but what a start for our Brickies! They will be back down @ Purdue on Thursday to try and qualify some RELAYS!!

#SPECTRACKULAR

#PRIDEANDTRADITION

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!!

Friday night, Brickie senior Andrew Martinez signed his letter of intent to continue his academic and athletic career at Knox College! Andrew will lace up his cleats for the Prairie Fire next year on the gridiron! Knox competes at the NCAA Div III level and is a member of the Midwest Conference!

Andrew was an anchor on the Brickie line that helped our boys win a share of the NCC Football Championship this past fall!

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

#COLLEGE

Softball - First Official Practice

Unified Track & Field - First Official Practice

Boys Volleyball - First Official Practice

Tuesday

No Events Scheduled

Wednesday

No Events Scheduled

Thursday

Girls Track & Field @ HSR Relay Qualifier (Hosted by Purdue University)

Boys Track & Field @ HSR Relay Qualifier (Hosted by Purdue University)

Friday

No Events Scheduled

Saturday

No Events Scheduled