The St. John’s Sauers eighth grade boys basketball team and cheerleaders pose after winning the Indiana Lutheran Schools Athletic Association state championship.
Submitted photo
After winning the Lutheran Invitational Tournament at Trinity Lutheran High School, the St. John’s Sauers eighth grade boys basketball team found themselves as the No. 1 overall seed in the Indiana Lutheran Schools Athletic Association state tournament two weeks ago.
The Raiders played three games in Fort Wayne, and they won all of them to claim the program’s first ILSAA state title.
“It was a really cool experience for the boys and for all of us as coaches since all three of us played at Sauers and graduated from Sauers,” coach Adam Brooks said.
Sauers’ first game came against Our Shepherd, Avon, and the Raiders won 49-32.
Hudson Lang scored 28 points to lead the team, Logan Schepman had eight, Isaac Darlage seven, Luke Schepman four and Maddox Wallace two.
In the semifinals, Sauers was tasked against a tough St. Peter’s Columbus team. St. Peter’s jumped out to a 9-3 lead at the end of the first quarter, and they sustained that six-point advantage heading into the fourth quarter.
“They jumped out on top of us in that game, and we had to battle from behind,” Brooks said.
Sauers fell down as many as 10 points in the fourth quarter until Lang drilled a 3-pointer. Bode Brooks then hit another 3, followed by another from Lang to make it a one-point game.
The Raiders were able to outscore St. Peter’s 17-8 in the fourth quarter to win the game 34-31.
Lang scored 17 points, Bode Brooks had six, Logan Schepman had six and Luke Schepman had five.
The victory propelled Sauers into the championship game against rival Immanuel Lutheran.
The Raiders once again found themselves off to a slow start as both Lang and Brooks got into early foul trouble.
Sauers again had a big fourth quarter, winning it 12-3, to win the game 40-32.
Lang, who was named tournament MVP, poured in 14 points. Logan Schepman had 10, Luke Schepman eight, Brooks four and Darlage four.
“It was a hard-fought game again against them,” coach Brooks said. “Logan Schepman stepped up big in that championship game.”
Brooks and Lang both made the all-tournament team, but the Raiders got contributions from a number of different players throughout the tournament.
Whether it was Luke Schepman having to guard the other team’s best defender when Lang was in foul trouble, Wallace having double-digit rebounds in two of the three games or even Will Hackman being asked to come in as a seventh-grader, Brooks saw all of his players have key moments.
“Each one of the boys did different things in different games,” he said. “Luke Schepman, one of the big things for him, when Hudson got in trouble, Luke had to take the assignment of guarding St. Peter’s and Immanuel’s best player, and he did a great job at that.
“Isaac Darlage got more aggressive and was taking the ball to the basket. They all just stepped up. Maddox Wallace had some huge minutes. He’s just a hard-nosed kid, and he’s a rebounding machine. Will Hackman is a seventh-grader that came in and played some big minutes.”
Sauers finished second place in the state tournament last year, and as the No. 1 overall seed this year, the team showed a lot of resilience when adversity hit.
Brooks credits that to how long this group has played together.
“I think it goes back to these boys have played a lot of basketball together. The fourth quarters also come down to their conditioning, being able to execute and make their free throws,” he said. “The boys showed a lot of poise in both tournament runs, but especially in that state tournament run. They never panicked when they were down in the fourth quarter and just made the plays that they needed to.”
Sauers will now get to head back up to Fort Wayne for the National Lutheran Basketball Tournament from March 23 to 26.
It will be the second time the Sauers boys program will be going to nationals. The only other time was in 2010, and the Raiders won the consolation bracket that year.
“You see them develop and grow through the years, and now, they’re starting to mature a bit,” Brooks said. “It has ended the way you’d dream it would end.”
Lang, Brooks, Darlage and Luke and Logan Schepman will all be going to Trinity Lutheran High School together next year.
“It’s a really cool thing, and you can call it a dream ending to be able to finish off their Sauers career this way,” Brooks said.