MADISON — Madison Shawe picked a very bad time to be playing Hauser on Tuesday night.
The Jets had been disappointed with their performance over the past five days and let out their frustration on the Hilltoppers in a 67-33 victory.
It was a much needed victory for Hauser after two overtime Mid-Hoosier Conference losses against Southwestern (Shelby) and Morristown on Thursday and Saturday.
“We have been working hard in practice,” Hauser junior guard Mason Sherman said. “The games last week disappointed us, and we wanted to come back and make sure we get a ‘W’ to build our confidence for next week.”
Slow starts have plagued the Jets (12-8) most of the season, but that was not the case in this game. They built a double-digit lead before the Hilltoppers (1-17) put a point on the scoreboard midway through the opening quarter. Hauser led 22-9 at the end of the quarter.
Shawe had no answers for the inside presence of Justin Compton or Alex Gross, who combined to score 24 of the 40 Jets’ first-half points.
“Our coaching staff has been working with our big guys to be more aggressive and take it to the bucket,” Hauser coach Griff Roth said. “They used some of those moves tonight, and I thought they did real well.”
At one point, the Jets went on an 18-3 run and extended the lead to 40-14 before the Hilltoppers got a basket and free throw right before halftime.
Compton had a team-high 16 points, and Gross finished with 14 for Hauser. Schuyler Edwards of the Hilltopppers led all scorers with 17.
“(Alex and I) are able to find each other,” Compton said. “Throughout practice, we’ve been working on going against a 2-3 zone and trying to get it inside. We did that really well tonight. When we get easy buckets inside, it opens up a lot shots for our guards and it just opens up the whole system for the team.”
Hauser opened the third quarter on a 10-2 run to extend the lead to 50-19. By midway through the fourth quarter, with the Jets leading 60-26, Roth emptied his bench to finish out the game.
“The guys responded well tonight,” Roth said. “We still need to improve some to be ready for sectional.”
