Jennings County’s Lane Zohrlaut looks to pass the ball around Columbus North’s, from left, Drew Schiefer, Damon Edwards and Philip McKinley Nov. 25, 2022, at Jennings County High School.
The Republic file photo
Lane Zohrlaut had a big start to his high school basketball season, but when the calendar turned to 2023, he ran into a bit of a snag.
On Jan. 3, the Jennings County senior was going through practice and was having a little trouble getting up and down the court.
“I was in practice one day, and after a couple down-and-backs, I couldn’t breathe and my chest was hurting,” Zohrlaut said. “The next day, I went to the doctor, and they sent me to the hospital, and they did an EKG, bloodwork and chest X-rays. The EKG said that my heart wasn’t sending electrical impulses like it should.”
Three days later, the day the Panthers — who were 10-0 at the time — played Brownstown Central, Zohrlaut received the test results and found out he had a Right Bundle Branch Block. He was unable to play against Brownstown or the next night against Center Grove, where Jennings endured its first of only two losses this season, while he scheduled an echocardiogram for the next Tuesday.
“It was kind of unheard of to get in that quick,” Zohrlaut said. “It was kind of a miracle.”
The echocardiogram came back clean, with nothing concerning. The Right Bundle Branch Block was still there, but doctors said it didn’t cause what happened to Zohrlaut.
Lane Zohrlaut
Doctors believe Zohrlaut developed a case of exercise-induced asthma and gave him an inhaler.
“Now I have to use it during strenuous activity,” Zohrlaut said. “I use the it before the game, and there’s been a couple times I’ve had to use my inhaler during the game, but other than that, I’ve been good.”
Zohrlaut was released to play the next day at Jac-Cen-Del, but waited until that Saturday to return to the court at Bedford North Lawrence.
“It was tough,” Zohrlaut said. “It was three really important games, so it killed me to sit out. I hated being sidelined, but I just worked hard to get back to where I was.”
“It was pretty scary stuff,” Jennings coach Josh Land added. “It put basketball in check for a little bit. I think our team learned some lessons from that, how special it is to be a high school basketball player when there are so many other things that can happen.”
When he returned, Zohrlaut picked up right where he left off. The 6-foot-3 forward averages 5.8 points and leads the team with 4.9 rebounds per game.
“Lane is the ultimate hard worker,” Land said. “He doesn’t take plays off. He’s super hard on himself. He’s the guy that stays around after practice to shoot free throws. He’s worked his tail off in the weight room and just sets such a great example by his actions. He’s not a super vocal kid, but you know what you’re going to get out of him every night. He’s going to give you 100 percent, no matter what.”
This week, Zohrlaut helped the Panthers win their first sectional title since 2005. He scored 10 points and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds in Monday’s 51-39 sectional final win against New Albany.
“It’s nice,” Zohrlaut said. “It’s really fun. There’s nothing like it. It’s a great way to go out. Hopefully, we can keep on winning.”
Earlier this week, Zohrlaut, along with senior teammate Keegan Manowitz, was named first-team Academic All-State by the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association. Zohrlaut plans to attend IUPUC to play baseball and is undecided on a major.
Last summer, Zohrlaut played for the Demand Command travel baseball team on which IUPUC athletics director Zach McClellan was the head coach and Crimson Pride baseball coach Scott Bickel was an assistant.
“It’s close to home, and it was just something I was excited to be a part of a new program and help build it for the ground up,” Zohrlaut said. “I also want to save as much money as possible so I don’t graduate with a ton of debt.”
Jennings is set to face Evansville Reitz at 4 p.m. today in the Seymour Regional, where it will be looking for its first regional title since 1998.
“I’m excited,” Zohrlaut said. “It should be a good game. It will be tough, but we can definitely do it if we just play like we know how to play.”
