Hamacher named Post-Tribune Coach of Year

Updated: March 23, 2011 3:46PM

A coach's moves often have a direct impact on a team's ultimate success.

Fair, or unfair, a coach is often judged by the moves he decides to make.

Ironically, it was a move Hobart coach Mike Hamacher didn't make early this season - trying to install a whole new offense after a season-ending knee injury to senior guard Amanda Corral - that ended up being a major factor in the Brickies' incredible 18-2 record.

Even though losing a player of Corral's caliber - an Indiana Junior All-Star and Northern Illinois recruit - could have spelled doom for the Brickies, Hamacher never panicked.

"I thought it was best for us to keep doing the same things we've always done,'' said Hamacher, the Post-Tribune's Coach of the Year.

"I think keeping it simple really helped. I think if you tried to change things at that point, it would show signs of panic. With all the time it would take, you can't really change your offense. It would be like sending the message: ‘We're not good enough to win with what we have.'

"Besides, if I would have changed things, I wouldn't have known where to begin. The team's strengths were still the team's strengths. I thought we could still play good defense and win."

Corral was averaging nearly 18 points when she tore her ACL in the fourth game against Griffith, Nov. 19.

After she went down, there weren't too many people outside Hobart's immediate hoops family who could have predicted what followed.

After a 25-point loss to two-time defending state-champion Ben Davis, Hobart won 13 straight games.

With Corral out of the picture, the Brickies realized everyone had to pick up their games - albeit a little bit each - in order to keep winning.

Unable to rely on Corral offensively, the Brickies were forced to develop more options.

"It was a challenge to get everybody to do their part, but they all did, so the credit goes to the girls," said Hamacher, who admitted he barely slept the night Corral was injured, because he felt so bad she wouldn't get to enjoy her senior year.

Hamacher said his team also was helped by the fact it had learned to play without Corral last summer when she played for an elite AAU team and competed in only about half of Hobart's summer league schedule.

Amanda Corral's sister, Alycia, also didn't play because of a knee injury.

"I think absorbing those losses really helped us in the long run," Hamacher said. "We strived to do all the little things consistently - like blocking out - and I think it really helped improve all the other kids. I think the kind of kids I had, and the fact they were seniors and so competitive, was also a big key. If I had any other kids, it might not have gone so well. If they had been younger or more inexperienced, maybe we wouldn't have been so successful."

Hamacher's colleagues couldn't help but notice his overall body of work.

"He works extremely hard at all levels of the program, but to lose a player the caliber of Amanda, and still go 18-1 during the regular season … that's impressive," Crown Point coach Mike Cronkhite said.

"Any time you can play the kind of lock-down defense Hobart plays, you're going to be successful. Rebounding and defensive-wise, he was extremely fundamental. If you can do those two things, you're going to win a lot of games. Their senior leadership was also a factor. They knew each other and they knew how to win, and that's extremely important."

Andrean coach Ken Markfull understands what losing a top player can do to a team. He lost Jamie Gutowski to a torn ACL in the fifth game of the 1999-2000 season, but the team still went 15-7.

Gutowski suffered another ACL tear during the summer prior to her senior year, but returned in time for volleyball, not to mention a 19-6 basketball season.

"When your best player, or one of your best players, goes down with an injury, the kids can just deflate," Markfull said.

"When that happens, you have to keep your approach consistent, and I think he did a great job doing that.

"Those kids play so well together and he kept them all together. He kept their heads where they needed to be and made them believe they were still capable of being a good basketball team."

Griffith coach Tom Golumbeck said Hamacher responded well to the challenge.

"When Mike figures out what he wants to do, and he believes what he's doing is something that's going to work, he doesn't stray from it," Golumbeck said. "The dribble-drive offense he ran, really suited his talent. I think he might have worked even more on the team's defense, because he knew they weren't going to score as much without Amanda.

"What he did is amazing, and a little surprising. He stuck with what he believed in and didn't panic. I thought that was the difference."

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