HOPE — Hauser and Trinity Lutheran were in a dogfight throughout much of Tuesday night’s non-conference boys basketball matchup.
It was the free throw shooting down the stretch that sealed the deal for the Jets in a 61-52 victory.
"Unfortunately for us, we did not get the run to start the fourth quarter, so you are in a dogfight for the rest of the night. Credit to Trinity Lutheran — they’re hungry for a win," Hauser coach Joe Sibbitt said. "We had some matchup issues with them, and they can play a five-out motion and draw our big guys away from the basket defensively, but we ended up finding a way to win."
The score was 5-4 early in the first quarter until the Cougars (0-3) went on a 6-2 run that forced a timeout. Following the timeout, the Jets (2-1) turned up the intensity and a Trey Johnson basket and a Jackson Paradise 3 tied the game at 11-11.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]Click here to purchase photos from this gallery
Hauser then forced a couple turnovers that lead to four straight points to go ahead 15-11. Paradise made a layup just before the buzzer to give the Jets a 17-11 lead after the first quarter.
"Toward the end of the that first quarter, we just started playing with confidence and having confidence in each other," Paradise said. "I thought we did a pretty good job of carrying that momentum into the rest of the game."
A Josh Rowe basket ended Hauser’s 11-0 run, but that didn’t stop the Jets momentum. Frankie Poole converted a bucket, and Paradise converted another 3-pointer to extended the lead to 22-13.
Trinity then went on a 6-0 run to cut the lead to 22-19 until Paradise took control and scored five straight Hauser points to put the Jets back ahead 27-19. The Cougars were able to cut it to 29-25 until Caleb Hoover knocked down a triple to put Hauser ahead 32-25, and a Trinity free throw made it 32-26 at the half.
Bryce Bates and Johnson combined to score all the points in the third quarter, but the Cougars didn’t go away, trailing only trailing 44-36 heading into the fourth quarter.
Midway through the fourth, Johnson picked up his fifth foul. It could have changed the momentum, but the Jets weren’t fazed and were able to fend off every attempt Trinity made.
Paradise finished with a game-high 20 points. Bates scored 16 and Johnson added 10.
Rowe finished with 14 points to lead the Cougars. Hudson Norton scored 13, Jack Marksberry had 12 and Tyler Goecker added 10.
Hauser faces a huge test on Friday on the road in a key Mid-Hoosier Conference matchup against Morristown.
"I don’t know what our best is yet, I think we’re far from it," Sibbitt said. "We weren’t at our best tonight, and still being able to dig in and find a way to win the game, that’s credit to our kids. It could have went farther south from us, but we took care of the basketball and got to the free throw line. I was proud of the kids for finding a way to get out of here with a ‘W.’"
