Landen Hale can envision Hebron celebrating its first sectional title since 2012.
At the same time, the 6-foot-6 forward understands it’s a step-by-step process, that he shouldn’t look too far ahead. He’s enjoying the journey with the high-flying Hawks to the fullest.
“I just love this team,” Hale said. “It’s a good senior year. I’m glad to be a part of this.”
But a chance at postseason glory with Hebron (16-1) would mean extra to him, considering he didn’t have it last season after he suffered a broken right hand in a car crash. The injury sidelined him for the final six games, including a sectional-opening loss to LaVille. He wound up missing the better part of two months.
“It could’ve been a lot worse,” he said. “I was trying to turn, the sun was glaring, I couldn’t see and it was a head-on collision. The other guy was fine. He was all right, thank God. That’s all I cared about.”
In a twist of fate, it wasn’t the first time Hale endured a significant injury involving a vehicle. He suffered a broken right ankle as a freshman and missed all but the final four games of that season.
“I was working at a pumpkin farm, and I was sitting on a tractor,” he said. “It was driving, and I fell off, and it ran over my leg.”
Hale paused to consider what he has experienced before saying, “I’m all good now.”
Indeed, he’s putting together a stellar season. He was leading the Hawks with 16.3 points, 8.1 rebounds and 2.1 steals before their victory against Washington Township on Thursday. He ranked second on the team with 2.1 assists and 1.1 blocked shots.
Hebron already secured its first Porter County Conference Tournament championship since 2014, topping Morgan Township 46-37 on Jan. 24. With that victory, the Hawks avenged their only loss of the season.
“He does everything for us,” Hebron coach Mike Grennes said about Hale. “He’s rebounding well for us. He scores for us. The great thing about Landen, he wants to win. If he doesn’t have a big night scoring, it’s fine with him. He knows he’s going to rebound. It just depends on the team and who we’re playing that night.
“He’s a great kid to have on the team just because he’s a leader. He leads these kids out here as a whole. He’s a great example because he’s been through it before and he knows what it takes to get things done, and he just wants to win. You can tell the way he plays, he has a passion for the game. Whether he scores, whether he rebounds, whatever he’s doing that night for the team, as long as the team wins, he’s happy.”
Hale, senior center Ben Kenda and senior point guard Trever Roy are Hebron’s captains.
“He’s been an amazing player,” Roy said about Hale. “He’s fitting into the role as that star player, and he knows it. But he’s also getting other people involved, the team as a whole. It’s just amazing what he does.”
After Hale’s virtually nonexistent freshman season, he moved into the starting lineup on a senior-laden team as a sophomore, averaging 4.7 points and 4.0 rebounds. With a younger group, he paced the Hawks with 16.9 points, 7.4 rebounds and 1.5 steals in the junior season that ended prematurely.
“This year, we’re all ready,” Hale said. “We’re all grown.”
Hale has grown up in an athletic family. His mother, Courtney (Rosenbaum) Hale, a 2001 Valparaiso graduate, was an Indiana Junior All-Star in a season in which the Vikings reached the Class 4A state championship game. In Valparaiso’s 56-53 loss to nationally ranked Indianapolis Ben Davis in the final, she scored a game-high 22 points and added 11 rebounds. She then had a standout career at St. Joseph’s and spent three seasons from 2006 to 2009 as Hebron’s girls basketball coach.
Landen Hale also plays volleyball and baseball, although he didn’t play baseball last spring, opting to focus on AAU basketball after he recovered from his hand injury.
“He’s getting some looks and offers from colleges, which is nice to see,” Grennes said. “Hopefully he gets to play some basketball after high school.”
Hale intends to return to baseball this spring while also playing volleyball, which has been designated as an emerging sport by the Indiana High School Athletic Association.
But that juggling act can wait until after basketball season.
“We all work together,” Hale said. “It’s not all about scoring with this team. We have the talent to go far.”
