By KENZIE WINSTEAD
Content Editor

It’s been a special week at Silver Creek.

For the first time ever, the Silver Creek boys’ basketball team is practicing in late March as it prepares for the Class 3A state final.

The No. 6 Dragons (24-3) will face defending champion and third-ranked Culver Academies (24-3) Saturday night at 6 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in downtown Indianapolis.

“We’re doing a good job at staying focus,” said Silver Creek coach Brandon Hoffman.

Hoffman admits it’s not the typical week of practice for the most successful team in Silver Creek’s history.

“There’s always someone at practice — writers, TV stations,” Hoffman said, “and our kids have never eaten like this before. Everybody wants to do something for this team.”

It’s a been a whirlwind for Hoffman, his staff and the players.

After the season, Hoffman said he’ll really appreciate what they’ve accomplished this season. “I’m still on cloud nine,” he said. “Everybody will always remember this team, win or lose. It’s the definition of team. But how many teams can say they won their last game.”

For now, Hoffman and his staff are trying to figure out how to win one more game.

Winning that last game won’t be easy.

“Really, I like where we’re at,” the Silver Creek coach said. “They (Culver) are the favorites. They’ve really got a lot of individual talent.”

Hoffman, however, said the Dragons have an edge in the paint. “I think we have a size advantage and an advantage on the bench (depth),” he said.

Four of Silver Creek’s starters average double-figure scoring — two sophomores (Trey Kaufman, 15.1, and Kooper Jacobs, 13.7) and two seniors (Zane Gross, 15.7, and Jack Hawkins, 12.0).

Meanwhile, Culver is led by Trey Galloway (16.1 ppg) and Ethan Brittain-Watts (13.7 ppg).

Galloway, a junior, has allows from Butler, Notre Dame and most of the Big Ten schools.

“They are really disciplined,” Hoffman said of Culver. “They remind me of Floyd Central.”

For advice, Hoffman reached out to some of his good friends in Southern Indiana who know something about getting ready for a state final week, including New Albany’s Jim Shannon, Borden’s Doc Nash and former Jeff coach Chad Gilbert. He talked to each personally.

“The coaching fraternity down here (in Southern Indiana) is really close” Hoffman said.

Nash, a close friend to Hoffman and the Silver Creek staff, was in Seymour as the Dragons won the semistate.“After we won the semistate, I got a text from just about everybody (in Southern Indiana),” Hoffman said.

“I’m just trying to soak it in,” Hoffman said.

As they prepare, Hoffman said his team is and ready to go.

“I really don’t sense any nervousness or any kind of complacency,” he said. “We’ll be ready.”

By KENZIE WINSTEAD
Content Editor

SEYMOUR, Ind. — The Silver Creek community enjoyed an impromptu celebration Saturday afternoon — in the middle of the basketball floor at Seymour High School.

“I’m speechless when I see the whole town of Sellersburg here,” said Silver Creek coach Brandon Hoffman. “That’s what it’s about. I’m just part of the ride. It’s just surreal.”

The celebration came after a hard-earned 72-69 win over Indianapolis Crispus Attacks in the Class 3A Seymour Semistate.

The Dragons (24-3) — with just the right combination of gritty seniors and talented underclassmen — earned their first trip to a state final in boys’ basketball. They will take on Culver Academies on March 23 at Banker’s Life Fieldhouse in downtown Indianapolis.

“We just made play after play,” Hoffman said. “That’s chemistry. If we just take care of the ball, we’re better than they are.”

Even with an advantage in the paint, it didn’t come easy for Silver Creek.

The Dragons led 46-38 after Silver Creek senior Josh Landers hit a 3-pointer with 4:35 left in the third quarter.

Then, Attucks scored the next 11 points to tie it at 49.

“There was a lot of basketball left,” Hoffman said, recalling his timeouts during that stretch of the third quarter. “We needed to get the doggone ball inside to the horse (Trey Kaufman) and let him eat.”

Kaufman, who drew double teams much of the afternoon, tallied 17 points.

From there, the game stayed close.

In the fourth quarter, Silver Creek trailed 62-59 and then started a rally of its own.

With 43.9 seconds left, the Dragons took control on one play.

Ty Kessinger hit the first of two free throws to give Silver Creek a 66-63 lead. On the second attempt, he missed but sophomore Kooper Jacobi tipped in the rebound and the Dragons led 68-63.

Silver Creek iced the game in the final 10 seconds by hitting 3 of 4 throws — one by senior Zane Gross and two from Kessinger.

.⁦@KenzHHHoops⁩ with Silver Creek senior Zane Gross immediately after Seymour Semistate championship: pic.twitter.com/uHUlvfDllj

— Matt Denison (@HoosierHills) March 16, 2019

Jacobi led the Dragons with 20 points. “It feels great,” he said. “We worked so hard for this. I didn’t know we were going to win until the last 10 seconds. I still can’t believe it.”

Jacobi mentioned the large number of Silver Creek fans. “It was so loud,” he said. “My ears were hurting at halftime.”

Harold Bennett, who hit five long-distance 3-pointers, led Attucks with 30 points.

Now, the Dragons have a full week to get ready for the state title game.

“We’re going to enjoy it,” Hoffman said. “But we’re playing to win it. We’re going to play to win it.”

CLASS 3A SEYMOUR SEMISTATE
Silver Creek 72, Indianapolis Crispus Attucks 69
Silver Creek (24-3) — Zane Gross 7, Jack Hawkins 14, Josh Landers 3, Ty Kessinger 11, Kooper Jacobi 20, Trey Kaufman 17.
Crispus Attucks (20-9) – Jason Hall 5, Harold Bennett 30, SinCere McMahon 21, Jaylen Carson 3, Jaiquan Edwards 4, Tyran Lewis 6.
3-point goals: Gross 1, Hawkins 2, Jacobi 1, Hall 1, Bennett 5, McMahon 4, Lewis 1.

Three Silver Creek players were named first-team All-Mid-Southern Conference for the 2018-19 season, per a recent vote by the league’s coaches.

Senior Zane Gross, who is averaging 15.7 points per game, and sophomores Kooper Jacobi (13.9) and Trey Kaufman (15.6) were included on the 10-man team. No other MSC school. placed three on the first-team.

ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM

• Seth Borden, Brownstown
• Drew Buhr, Austin
• Hayden Cutter, Scottsburg
• Zane Gross, Silver Creek
• Langdon Hatton, North Harrison
• Kooper Jacobi, Silver Creek
• Isaac Johnson, Brownstown
• Trey Kaufman, Silver Creek
• Bradley Nalley, Corydon
• Joey Wiseman, Corydon

HONORABLE MENTION

• Courtland Black, Charlestown
• Michael Boshears, Brownstown
• Dae’von Fuqua, Clarksville
• Jack Hawkins, Silver Creek
• Braden Jenkins, North Harrison
• Ty Kessinger, Silver Creek
• Treyton Owens, Scottsburg
• Landon Suvak, Salem

COACH OF THE YEAR

• Dave Benter, Brownstown

BY KENZIE WINSTEAD
Content Editor

At Silver Creek, basketball is family.

When Silver Creek Brandon Hoffman took over the program in 2010, the Dragons hadn’t won a sectional title in 11 seasons.

It took Hoffman and the Dragons three years to win a single game in the sectional tournament.

Then the tide turned.

In 2014 against a tough-as-nails draw, the Dragons put it together and beat three solids teams — Madison, Corydon and Brownstown for the sectional title. It was the hardest draw possible.

As the Silver Creek players cut down the nets in 2014, they handed some of the clippings to some Silver Creek kids, a staple at all Dragon basketball events.

Little did Hoffman know but those little kids would grow up one day and take the Dragons to the semistate.

Now the Silver Creek basketball culture is a winning one. The Dragons (23-3) have won five sectionals in the last six seasons and they’ll be playing in Saturday’s Class 3A semistate against Indianapolis Attucks at Seymour.

As the sectional trophies kept filling the cases at Silver Creek, Hoffman said he changed and it became less about him and more about everyone else.

“Coaching became a lot more fun for me when I started to care about other people having success,” he said. “We have a lot of fans at Silver Creek who have been here before I even played.”

Hoffman said he enjoys helping his players reach their goals.

“Really, we’ve had a lot of players who are really good,” he said. “We’ve had plenty of Jimmys and Joes. For us, everything just snowballed.”

Hoffman admitted he knew this would be a special group — years ago — as they came up through the Silver Creek system.

“These kids are close and they trust each other,” he said.

Plus, they are talented.

The talent starts with two sensational sophomores — certain college prospects Trey Kaufman and Kooper Jacobi.

But the Dragons would not be in the semi-state without three senior starters Zane Gross, Jack Hawkins and Ty Kessinger.

Hoffman said Gross has grown up over the years and he’s now a certified leader on this team.

“He’s like having another coach on the floor,” Hoffman said of Gross.

Now the Dragons are just one win away from playing for the Class 3A title at Bankers Life in Indianapolis. “Just win one (game) — that would be something else,” Hoffman said.

But Silver Creek must beat a talented Attucks team.

“Obviously, there isn’t a bad team left,” Hoffman said. “I’m sure they (Attucks) expects to win; we do too.”

Floyd Central, Jeffersonville and New Albany each had two players named first-team All-Hoosier Hills Conference by the league’s head coaches.

ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM

• Cobie Barnes, Floyd Central
• Tre Coleman, Jeffersonville
• Derrick Stevenson, New Albany
• Brayton Bailey, Bedford North Lawrence
• Jake Heidbreder, Floyd Central
• Jacob Jones, Jeffersonville
• Matthew Frost, Columbus East
• Julien Hunter, New Albany
• Cooper Yancey, Madison
• McCall Ray, Bedford North Lawrence

HONORABLE MENTION

• Darin Starks, Jeffersonville
• Trey Hourigan, New Albany
• Josh Pettit, Jennings County
• Tyler Boyer, Columbus East
• Drew Johnson, Columbus East
• Aaron Martin, Jennings County
• Deavon Franklin, Jeffersonville
• Will Lovings-Watts, Jeffersonville
• Jathan Ritter, Bedford North Lawrence
• Nick Winchell, Floyd Central

CO-COACHES OF THE YEAR

• Joe Luce, Jeffersonville
• Todd Sturgeon, Floyd Central

Floyd Central and Jeffersonville finished as co-conference champions, marking the Highlanders’ fifth and Red Devils’ 11th all-time HHC crown in boys’ basketball.

After an ultra-successful high school career at New Albany, Sean East decided to go the prep school route for a fifth-year of preparatory basketball and the opportunity to hone his skillset while bolstering his college recruitment.

East, a 6-foot-2 guard, is now in the final weeks of a one-season stint at Combine Academy of Charlotte, an international boarding school and professional sports performance center, located in Lincolnton, N.C.

“Combine has been a good experience,” said East, who guided New Albany — alongside classmate Romeo Langford — to a state championship in 2016 and a 100-10 record over four seasons. “I’ve met lots of new faces from all around the world. This place really lets you know where your game is at, who you can play with and what you need to work on.”

Combine’s program in 2018-19 includes four teams — one traditional high school team and three postgraduate teams. East is a member of the national postgrad squad, which has played an aggressive schedule of nationally-ranked prep schools and junior-colleges.

Some of East’s biggest performances at Combine have come against top-tier competition, including versus Hargrave Military (33 points, 11 assists, eight rebounds), State College of Florida (24 points, seven assists, four steals) and IMG Academy (21 points, five assists, four rebounds) .

“(Sean) is a great leader vocally and his skills carry the team in these tough competitions,” said Combine’s associate head coach Mike Jagacki, who trains East nearly everyday at 6 a.m. “He’s a leader for our team. He has great natural instincts and the IQ and skillset of a high-major player. That’s why I think he’ll be a great fit for any (college) program.”

East, who is averaging 22.2 points, 8.7 assists, 5.0 rebounds and 2.6 steals per game, has recently heard from a number of Division I programs, including Butler, Chattanooga, Creighton, Evansville, Incarnate Word, Niagara, Southeast Missouri, Towson and others.

“I expect more schools to hit me up in early April when (their) seasons are over,” East said. “By the end of April, I want to be committed.”

East’s team will close the season March 16-17 at the Combine Classic in Lincolnton.