HOPE — Hauser got one of its All-Mid-Hoosier Conference players back Wednesday night, but it was missing another.
Senior guard Jackson Paradise returned from a concussion and led the Jets with 15 points. But first-team All-MHC selection Bryce Bates was out with a sprained ankle, and the Hauser offense struggled in a 66-34 loss to Oldenburg Academy.
“We have three guys averaging in double figures, and without one of them, we just don’t have enough kids — and not that they’re not trying — to put it in the basket to make up for those 12 or 15 points that are sitting out,” Hauser coach Joe Sibbitt said. “So hopefully, we can get fully healthy and back to full speed.”
Paradise was the bulk of the Jets’ offense, especially early. He scored all six of their first-quarter points, nine of their 13 first-half points and 15 of their 25 through three quarters.
By that time, the game was out of hand, and Paradise and fellow senior Trey Johnson didn’t play much in the fourth quarter.
“We’ve been struck a little bit by some injury bugs here, and we really can’t afford to have anyone out,” Sibbitt said. “It was nice to get (Paradise) back and get some rust off. I thought he got more comfortable as the game went on, and we’re going to need him here the last couple weeks to kind of get back to full strength.”
Hauser (7-14) kept it close early. The Jets were within 9-6 in the closing seconds of the first quarter, but the Twisters (13-7) scored just before the buzzer, then ran off the first 16 points of the second quarter to open a 27-6 lead.
The Jets started out in a box-and-one against 6-foot-5 senior Jacob Johnson and held him to two points in the first quarter. But he hit three long 3-pointers in the second quaters and added eight more points in the third to finish with a game-high 19.
“He’s so talented,” Sibbitt said. “When he gets going, and he starts to see shots go in, then he really gets going. We kept him from doing that for awhile, and really, we had them frustrated early, and on the offensive end, we were actually getting some decent looks early and we weren’t capitalizing on them.”
The Twisters shot 56.8 percent (25 of 44) from the field. Hauser, meanwhile, shot just 30.3 percent (10 of 33).
“We haven’t played against a lot of zone this year,” Sibbitt said. “We talked to the kids about, ‘Against a zone, you can’t stand and hold the basketball.’ You either have to attack gaps on the dribble, you have to be ready to pass and catch or you have to be ready to pass and shoot. For long stretches in the game, we didn’t do a very good job of that, and we’re at a point now where if we get behind very far, it’s tough for us to catch up because defensively, we struggle to create a lot of turnovers.”
Trey Johnson finished with seven points and led the Jets with four rebounds. Hauser made seven 3-pointers, but only three 2-point baskets.
“We just struggled to put the ball in the basket,” Sibbitt said. “I thought at times especially early, we got some nice looks and some shots that we need to make to keep the game in a managebale situation, and we just couldn’t capitalize. They had some athleticism that we struggled to match.”
