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It was a foggy and rainy night while traveling to Milan to watch the Hauser Jets play the Rising Sun Shiners in 1A Sectional 60. And, my GPS system for some reason took me on a very narrow country road for a few miles which did not help my driving anxiety.

I knew it was an 1A Sectional as soon as I pulled in the spacious parking lot unable to find a parking space for several minutes and having to park far away from the entry and then having to walk a long distance in the rain. Once inside, I got to watch the ending of a very competitive game between Jac-Cen-Del and Oldenburg which was back and forth until Oldenburg pulled out a 56-51 victory. Thus, Hauser will play Oldenburg Friday evening around 7:30 p.m.

When looking at the rooster for each team, I noticed seven seniors for Hauser and four for Rising Sun and Hauser with six players 6'3” and one 6'6” while Rising Sun had four players 6'3”. Certainly, senior advantage and height advantage can both be factors in a game.

Hauser started out and remained in a man-to-man defense while extending it to full court early but not later. Rising Sun chose to first go with a 2-3 zone but quickly changed to man-to-man while not extending it beyond half court. Hauser's defense was swarming and their offense was quite effective and explosive with mostly layups mixed in with some timely three-pointers and offensive putbacks. One dunk was quite impressive. Both teams had limited fouls and both teams hit their free throws, Hauser 9-10 and Rising Sun 4-5. Rising Sun struggled with turnovers and their shots.

In fact, the score after the first quarter was 23 to 0. You likely would not find many quarters like that in the history of Hauser basketball. That's a feat hard to accomplish. In the second quarter, the Shiners were able to find the basket, but the Jets led comfortably 48 to11 at halftime. After three quarters, it was 64 to 17. Both teams started subbing in the fourth quarter, and the final score was 72 to 24.

Their was a large Hauser crowd as well as a large Rising Sun crowd. Josh Gernentz, Hauser coaching staff and former 5th grade student, shared that Hauser fans arrived early to support their team. I was impressed that the Rising Sun crowd stayed until the very end and gave their team a standing ovation afterward. Undoubtedly, there will be even a larger Hauser crowd Friday night. The Jets have very high expectations, and a great turnout from the Hauser nation could be a wonderful advantage.

The trip home was an interesting experience too with rain pouring down at times but fortunately just spotty fog. Somehow, I ended up on I-74 with semi-trucks splashing water all over the place. An interesting Whopper at Burger King was a welcome break. Let's hope the Jets have a whopper of a tourney at Milan, a place well known in Indiana for their 1954 State Championship, in particular due to the movie Hoosiers in 1986. I suspect all the Hauser players have watched that movie and hope to live that dream. Another sectional crown added to the long history of Hauser sports would definitely be celebrated and a good beginning in following that dream.

For more information about the game, please refer to Kyle Shipp's Game Report column and Mike Asher's Hauser Scoreboard.