Hauser’s Bryce Bates drives to the basket around Morristown’s Nick Stidham during Wednesday’s sectional game at Southwestern (Shelby) High School.
Tommy Walker | For The Republic
SHELBYVILLE — Leading by 17 points late in the first half of Wednesday night’s first-round sectional battle, Hauser appeared to be on its way to its second blowout win over Morristown this season.
The Yellow Jackets, though, didn’t let the Jets cruise into Friday’s semifinals. They came back to take the lead before the Jets regrouped and pulled away for a 56-45 victory.
“Really, it was a whole team effort out there,” said senior Bryce Bates, who led Hauser with 16 points and 16 rebounds. “It was a great team effort to come back and get the lead back and pull the win out.”
Nolan Laster almost single-handedly brought Morristown (3-18) back. He scored 18 points during a 20-2 run that turned a 29-12 Jets lead with just over a minute left in the first half into a 32-31 Yellow Jackets advantage late in the third quarter.
“Coming into the third quarter, we weren’t expecting them to pop us in the mouth like that,” Bates said. “Laster came in hitting everything. We had to make sure we were stopping him.”
After two more lead changes and a pair of ties, Hauser (10-13) took the lead for good at 40-38 on a basket by Bates with 4:35 left in the game. Freshman Ledger Gelfius then stepped to the forefront and drilled back-to-back 3-pointers to stretch the led to 46-38 and send the Jets on their way to a win.
“We needed effort buckets,” Gelfius said. “We started playing as a team. The first and second quarters were good. The third wasn’t that good, but we we did really good in the fourth.”
Gelfius also hit a 3-pointer and a long 2-pointer in the second quarter and finished with a career-high 12 points.
“I was at (nervous) at first, but after I made my first 3, I was fine,” Gelfius said.
Eli Miller also scored 12 points for Hauser. Koby Johnson added six points and 10 rebounds.
The Jets outrebounded the Yellow Jackets 43-31.
“We just had to keep crashing the boards,” Bates said. “Me and Koby Johnson and Cole Renner, we’re pretty strong guys. We just needed to use our size the best we can to make as big an impact as we can.”
The play off the bench by Gelfius and Renner was key for the Jets. Renner scored all five of his points in the fourth quarter, including two big free throws with 1:58 remaining after a Laster 3-pointer had cut the lead to five.
“Give Morristown credit for making that run to get back in it, but give our kids credit for answering the bell,” Hauser coach Brent Keck said. “Our kids settled in. I thought we got some great play in the fourth quarter from Cole Renner and Ledger Gelfius that really helped us get through that thing. We got on a little bit of a roll with Cole and Ledger there and just tried to ride it out.”
The Jets now have a quick turnaround to get ready for Friday’s 7:45 p.m. semifinal matchup with Oldenburg Academy. Oldenburg (5-15), which beat host Southwestern (Shelby) 56-46 in Wednesday’s nightcap, beat Hauser 64-57 on Feb. 15.
“We’ve had good leadership all year from our seniors,” Keck said. “We’re just happy to advance and get down the road with a win.”
