The Hauser boys basketball team prepares to take the court for warmups prior to Saturday’s semistate semifinal game against Orleans at Seymour.
Ted Schultz | The Republic
SEYMOUR — For 29 1/2 minutes Saturday morning, Hauser had things going its way.
The final 2 1/2 minutes were another story.
Class A No. 4 Orleans outscored the Class A No. 2 Jets 11-1 over the final 2:30 to pull out a 69-67 victory in the semifinals of the Seymour Semistate.
“We’re heartbroken,” Hauser coach Trent Moorhead said. “We’re gutted for sure. I told the guys there’s never a doubt about their effort, their fight or their willingness to win this game. I never questioned the defensive intensity on our end. I thought we made them take tough shots, and that’s how basketball goes. Unfortunately, it didn’t go our way today.”
The Jets (24-4) led by as many as 13 in the third quarter and still led 66-58 after a 3-pointer by Ledger Gelfius with 2:39 remaining. But Rylan Crocker answered with a 3 at the other end to start a 9-0 run that was capped with a pair of free throws by Nolan Robinson with 56 seconds left that gave the Bulldogs a 67-66 lead.
Hauser’s Taeshaun Tungate made the first of two free throws with 29 seconds remaining to tie it. Collin Buck, who had made his first 11 shots from the field, grabbed the rebound, but missed the putback, and Orleans (23-4) rebounded.
“We’re not even close to being in that postion without Collin Buck and the performance he put on and the season he’s had to help us get here,” Moorhead said.
The Bulldogs worked the ball to Crocker, who hit a jumper in the lane with 4 seconds left. Following a timeout, the Jets turned the ball over on the inbounds pass, and Orleans snatched the victory.
“We tried our best,” Buck said. “That No. 10 (Crocker) is a great shooter and just happened to hit that shot. It’s devastating.”
Crocker finished with a game-high 24 points to lead Orleans. Alex DeWitt added 20.
“Basketball a lot of the time comes down to shot-making in the fourth quarter, and Rylan Crocker is a terrific player,” Moorhead said. “We did a great job on him for 24 minutes, and then that fourth quarter, he got loose, and when a good shooter sees the ball go in once, they can be dangerous.”
After the first quarter saw five lead changes and ended in a 15-15 tie, the Jets outscored the Bulldogs 20-10 in the second period to take a 35-25 lead at the break.
Hauser, which scored the final seven points of the first half, scored the first three of the third quarter to take its biggest lead at 38-25 in the opening minute of the third quarter.
Buck finished 11 of 13 from the field and led the Jets with 22 points and eight rebounds. Gavin Keller scored 13 of his 17 points in the first half, and Tungate had 14 points. Stryker Gill added seven points and 10 assists.
Hauser shot 62 percent (26 of 42) from the field, while the Bulldogs hit 60 percent (27 of 45).
“I think we played pretty well, but they hit their shots,” said Keller, who fouled out in the final minute. “I got in foul trouble, and they started making their 3s. It happens. They deserved to win, also.”
The Jets outrebounded Orleans 23-13.
“I thought we rebounded the ball well,” Moorhead said. “I thought we played in transition well. I thought our offensive execution was solid for the most part. It just came down to shot making at the end of the game, and unfortunately, Orleans made one more shot than we did.”
Hauser had won its first sectional title since 2017, then last week, won its first regional since 2006. Tungate and Ledger Gelfius were four-year starters, while Alex Cord was the sixth man and Buck came back to lead the team in scoring and rebounding this year after missing most of the past two seasons with injuries.
“Over 20 wins and a regional championship, I think we had an amazing season,” Buck said.
“That senior class is going to go down as a historic class of guys that has come through Hauser,” Moorhead added. “Just the wins they’ve put together and really restoring this basketball program to back the tradition of excellence that was in the early 2000s, and we’re really proud of that. I told our guys that a couple weeks, a month from now, they’ll be able to reflect and be really proud about what this season has meant, but right now, it’s really hard handling this defeat.”
Orleans 69, Hauser 67
Orleans;15;10;16;28;—;69
Hauser;15;20;15;17;—;67
Orleans (23-4): Rylan Crocker 9 3-3 24, Nolan Robbins 3 2-2 8, Bryce Jones 5 0-0 11, Nate Brown 2 0-0 4, Alex DeWitt 7 6-9 20, Mason Freed 1 0-1 2. Totals: 27 11-15 69.
Hauser (24-4): Alex Cord 0 0-0 0, Taeshaun Tungate 5 4-8 14, Gavin Keller 6 5-5 17, Ledger Gelfius 3 0-0 7, Stryker Gill 1 4-4 7, Collin Buck 11 0-0 22, Kam Blair 0 0-0 0. Totals: 26 13-17 67.
3-point goals: Orleans 4 (Crocker 3, Jones). Hauser 2 (Gelfius, Gill).
