HOPE — A Hauser boys basketball team playing its third game in as many nights showed some signs of weariness as Thursday night’s regular-season finale wore on.
South Dearborn took full advantage and broke open a close game early to pull away for a 72-41 victory.
“In fairness to our kids, I haven’t had a lot of time with them,” said Hauser coach Brent Keck, who spent the first two weeks of this month in quarantine. “Even this week, we’ve been mostly in games. So I’m really looking forward to having some time to practice. I do think we have to give our kids some time off their legs. This is our third game in three nights, but we’re going to try to take advantage of our practice time and try to do the best we possibly can to have them prepared them for the moment.”
The Jets (8-14) were within 11-9 after a Landon Asher 3-pointer with just over two minutes left in the first quarter. But then the Knights (11-11) went on 26-1 run to open a 37-10 lead with 2:55 left in the first half.
Hauser was plagued by 23 turnovers.
“We competed really well early,” Keck said. “I think we got frustrated in regards to value of the basketball. They did a great job of stretching out their defense and doing some things as far as switching, and we did not handle it very well. That’s on me as a basketball coach. I have to do a better job of making sure our kids are prepared.”
Bryce Bates and Kobe Meahl each scored 11 points to lead the Jets. Bates led Hauser with four rebounds.
Eli Hoffman scored a game-high 15 points to lead four South Dearborn players in double figures. The Knights shot 73 percent (19 of 26) from the field in the first half and 54 percent (32 of 59) for the game.
“South Dearborn is a nice team, and they’re really well coached,” Keck said. “They were in overtime and knocking on the door with Greensburg. They’ve played at a high level throughout the course of the year. I think they have an excellent basketball team, and they’re going to be a tough out in their tournament.”
The Jets now have five days to prepare for Wednesday’s rematch with Southwestern (Shelby) in the first round of the sectional. The Spartans, who will host the sectional, beat Hauser 48-38 on Wednesday.
“It’s just been really tough having some time with the kids in the gym right now,” Keck said. “But hopefully, we get some time to get ready here for Southwestern. We hope to have some good days of preparation prior to Wednesday.”
