On the surface, Hauser’s boys basketball team didn’t put up a sparkling record during the June period in which coaches are permitted to work with their teams in practice and game settings.
But between injuries and scheduling conflicts, the Jets played two games with their entire team this summer. Just as they do during the regular season, they played a summer schedule rich in Class 2A, 3A and 4A opponents.
Those played big factors in Hauser’s 7-11 record.
"We took the mindset that it’s the summer," Hauser coach Nate Cangany said. "What we’re trying to do is develop our kids. By the end of the summer, we were better than we were at the beginning of the summer, and that’s what we wanted. We actually felt good about our summer for the most part, but it’s going to be a process."
The Jets went 1-2 in a shootout at Edinburgh and 0-3 in a shootout at Whiteland. Hauser also hosted a summer league on Wednesday nights and went 3-5. Last week, the Jets hosted a shootout and went 3-1.
Hauser had three returning starters in incoming seniors Trey Johnson and Jackson Paradise and incoming junior point guard Brock Thalls. Johnson, however, is a Division I baseball prospect and missed several games in June while playing baseball.
"When Trey was there, he showed he was going to be a very big part of what we’re doing," Cangany said. "We’re going to rely on Trey and Jackson when the season gets here, but we had guys step up into roles this summer. We had some sophomores step up, so I was very pleased."
Incoming sophomore Bryce Bates moved up to the varsity midway through the winter season and gained some experience. Moving up to the varsity for the summer were incoming juniors Landon Asher and Clayton West and incoming sophomore Eli Miller.
"We were trying to develop some consistency at both ends of the floor," Cangany said. "Our juniors and our sophomores, it’s starting to click for them. I feel like some of our kids are starting to pick up on that, but I still feel like we have a long way to go and a lot of work to do."
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This is the fourth of six stories this week on how the summer basketball seasons went for Bartholomew County schools.
Monday: Hauser girls
Tuesday: Columbus East girls
Wednesday: Columbus North girls
Today: Hauser boys
Friday: Columbus East boys
Saturday: Columbus North boys
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