Hauser coach Trent Moorhead watches the action during the second half of a March 7 Milan Sectional semifinal game against Trinity Lutheran.
Dakota Locker | For The Republic
Hauser won’t have to travel very far for this year’s semistate round.
The Jets will have to go only 30 miles Saturday when they play in the boys basketball Class A Seymour Semistate. It’s a shorter distance than the 46 miles they traveled to Milan for the sectional or the 45 miles traveling to Martinsville for the regional game.
No. 2 Hauser (24-3) will take on No. 4 Orleans (22-4) in the first semifinal at 10 a.m. No. 1 Clay City (25-1) will play Liberty Christian (18-8) in the second semifinal at around noon. The semistate championship is at 8 p.m. Saturday, with the winner earning a spot in the Class A state title game.
The regional game on March 15 at Martinsville felt like a home game with about 80% of the crowd cheering for the Jets.
“It was so special to see by the time we took the floor for the 20-minute warmup, the entire Hauser section was full, and that doesn’t go unnoticed and means a lot to our team because we feel the support,” Hauser coach Trent Moorhead said. “It was special to see, and that’s what this community is all about, the way they support not only the basketball team but all programs. It’s just a special community. It makes you want to represent them well and do your best not only for yourself but for the community because that support means a lot.”
There’s pros and cons whether coaches like to play Game 1 or Game 2 of the sectional semifinals or the semistate semifinal round.
“Especially for the semistate, getting Game 1 serves a little more of an advantage in terms of getting that extra rest time,” Moorhead said. “You don’t have to wait for the results of Game 1. You don’t have to worry about overtime extending the game longer. It’s nice that you get to set the tone. You know when your game is going to start. It’s takes a little of the variable out of the situation, and it would give you the benefit of extra rest time if you’re lucky enough to win and play in the championship game that night.”
Moorhead got the benefit of playing the first game in the sectional in the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds. It gives the team a live look at the potential opponent in the second game.
“At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter if you get Game 1 or Game 2, you’ve got to win for it to matter, and that’s where our focus will be,” Moorhead said.
Seymour will have the most loaded semistate in the state with three of the top four teams in Class A playing there.
“All the teams that made it to semistate are no underdogs. We’re all really good teams,” Hauser senior Ledger Gelfius said. “We know that it’s going to be a fight. We keep our faith in God and keep trusting that when it is your time, you can’t stop it, so keep trusting in that and believe how it is supposed to.”
For the Jets players, it will be the largest gym they’ve played in for their high school careers. It’s about five times bigger than the Hauser gym they’re used to seeing.
However, playing in front of huge crowd isn’t new for Hauser. The Jets played in packed gyms during the season.
“I’ll take it in, but honestly, me and as a team, we play great with big crowds and big atmospheres under lots of pressure and the nerves,” Hauser senior Collin Buck said. “Everybody is nervous before games, but we take it as a way to help us make us better and use the nerves to play to our full potential.”
With Seymour’s gym holding around 8,228 spectators and a shorter drive, the Jets hope the fans and community will pack the gym Saturday.
“With the 1A south semistate, a lot of the teams in it are known for bringing big fan bases. I want to make sure that everybody knows that nobody packs a gym the way the Hauser Jets do,” Moorhead said. “I think that’s something where we have the opportunity to do Saturday with the short drive to Seymour, and hopefully our students are all back from Spring Break and will have a great student section there, as well. These are the kinds of kids that we’ve got at Hauser on this basketball team that you’ll want to support just because of the way they play, how hard they play and how unselfish they play. It’s a product of basketball that’s easy to support and cheer for, and we’re hoping we really get a big crowd to do that on Saturday.”
