Kam Blair
VERSAILLES — Moments after a pulling out a dramatic victory against his alma mater for the biggest win of his coaching career, Hauser coach Trent Moorehead had a message for his team in the locker room.
“The job isn’t finished.”
The Jets have another game to play tonight to try to win their first sectional title since 2017. They advanced to the title game with a thrilling 52-51 semifinal win at South Ripley.
“The job is not finished yet,” sophomore center Kam Blair said. “We have to stay humble.”
Hauser (18-6), which will play Switzerland County (15-10) in the final at 6:30 p.m. today, trailed by as many as 10 early in the second quarter and at one point, had three starters on the bench with two fouls. But the Jets used a 9-0 run to cut the lead to one and were within 32-28 at halftime.
“In that second quarter, we had three different guys in foul trouble, and we were able to keep it to a four-point game coming into halftime,” Moorhead said. “We weathered that storm. We talked about, ‘They had an opportunity, and now we’ll go on our run, and our opportunity will come the second half.”
Taeshaun Tungate
Although it had a few chances, Hauser was unable to tie or take the lead in the third quarter and still trailed 40-37 going to the fourth. But Blair opened the final period with a 3-pointer to tie it, and a basket by Taeshaun Tungate gave the Jets the lead. They never trailed again.
“We just said water finds its level, and we’re going to hit our shots at one point or another,” Tungate said.
Hauser looked like it had the game in hand when it led 48-44 and had the ball with less than two minutes remaining. But after a missed shot, the Jets were whistled for a technical foul, and the Raiders’ Cole Henry made both technical shots and a subsequent free throw to cut the lead to one.
A free throw by Blair put Hauser back up by two, and a free throw by South Ripley’s Drew Volz cut it to one again. Ledger Gelfius then made two free throws with 19 seconds remaining to put the Jets ahead 51-48.
The Raiders got the ball in the frontcourt, and after a time out, turned it over on the inbounds pass. Gelfius made a free throw with 14 seconds left, but South Ripley’s Ethan Johnson hit a 3-pointer with 8 seconds remaining to cut it to one.
Hauser then turned it over on the inbounds pass, but the Raiders’ Blaine Ward missed a running 10-footer, and Tungate grabbed the rebound as the buzzer sounded.
“We found the threats, and we locked down on Henry and Ward,” Blair said. “We fronted more, and we had amazing backside help and just great defense overall.”
Tungate and Blair each scored 12 points to lead the Jets. Gelfius finished with 10, and Stryker Gill and Gavin Keller each added eight. Keller grabbed nine rebounds to lead Hauser to a 35-26 advantage on the boards.
Ward scored 17, and Henry added 14 to lead South Ripley (13-10).
“It took all five guys on the floor, and all seven guys on the bench to be able to shut down Cole Henry and Blaine Ward and make sure they didn’t do enough to knock us off tonight,” Moorhead said. “The defense from Gavin Keller, Taeshaun Tungate, Stryker Gill as a floor general, Ledger Gelfius and Kam Blair making big free throws in the fourth quarter when we needed it.”
The win avenges a 14-point loss to the Raiders early this season.
“We made changes, and we realized what we needed to do to get better,” Blair said. “We just executed and hit our shots and played clutch defense.”
“We went harder defense, sagged off people that we didn’t believe were threats and we aimed toward the goal of winning,” Tungate added. “Coach Moorhead said in practice we have to go up stronger and pump fake these guys and just continue to go through the contact.”
The tournament win was the first of Moorhead’s head coaching career, and it came on the court where he played his high school basketball.
“That felt like a real tournament game,” Moorhead said. “It was not pretty, and each team had opportunities, but all that matters is the team that comes out on top, and I’m proud of us for being able to do that tonight. All that matters is, ‘Survive and advance,’ and I’m glad we found a way to do that.”
Hauser 52, South Ripley 51
South Ripley;15;17;8;11;—;51
Hauser;9;19;9;15;—;52
South Ripley (13-10): Bryson Sipples 0 0-0 0, Gavin Binion 3 0-0 9, Drew Volz 0 1-2 1, Blaine Ward 4 8-9 17, Cole Henry 3 7-9 14, Ethan Johnson 4 0-0 10, Mason McNew 0 0-0 0. Totals: 14 16-20 51.
Hauser (18-6): Alex Cord 1 0-0 2, Taeshaun Tungate 6 0-0 12, Ledger Gelfius 3 3-4 10, Stryker Gill 3 1-2 8, Gavin Keller 4 0-1 8, Kam Blair 2 7-8 12, Jake Barriger 0 0-0 0, Waylon Harper 0 0-0 0. Totals: 19 11-17 52.
3-point goals: South Ripley 7 (Binion 3, Johnson 2, Ward, Henry); Hauser 3 (Gelfius, Gill, Blair).
