A Sign of Huskies Support
Tue 3-19-2024

Jackson County Central has earned the right to play in the state tournament for the second time in head coach Alex Hein’s six years leading the Huskies. It wasn’t until late in the section championship victory that punched their ticket to the Class AA bracket that he noticed something in the crowd of JCC supporters.
“I’m pretty oblivious to things during the game but when we had kind of clinched it, I was looking up at my wife and they were sitting right next to them and I saw the sign and laughed,” says Hein.
Hein is a social studies teacher by day at the JCC Middle School and eighth-grade student Aiden Sathoff made the sign that read “Hein’s COVID Revenge Tour” for the 2024 tournament run after lockdowns ruined the Huskies’ 2020 chance to play for the state title. Sathoff says this isn’t the first, or last, sign he was part of making to support the team along with his mom, Elizabeth, and ten-year-old sister, Ally.
“We’ve just known each other, and we made the playoffs so it kind of just fit the timing to get into the revenge tour. If you were at the game, you would remember we had a big checklist, and everybody signed it. So, we kind of have those for each player and category and it’s more individual instead of all on one and then we have their student picture. We’ll probably give them out to the student section,” says Sathoff.
Coach Hein says basketball was part of their relationship from the very beginning.
“One of the coolest things about my job is to get to know these kids at a younger level. I got to know Aiden and now he’s in my class so even better this past year. All of these boys on my team right now I taught in seventh and eighth grade. Just that connection that I get to have on and off the court not only with these kids but also the fans that support our team,” says Hein.
Hein says he can’t wait to actually coach his team at the state tournament this year.
“When we made it in 2020 it was like ‘We did it!’ and coached a team to the state tournament but then didn’t get to experience it. We had some struggles, and you start to question yourself. ‘Can we do it?’ The fact that we’re able to do it again this year was nice in re-affirming my belief in myself. Having people see that and connect to that was a cool moment for me personally in this broader story,” says Hein.
He says the boys' basketball program appreciates all of the support from the entire JCC community on their incredible journey.
There is a charter bus for Huskies fans going to the Target Center for Wednesday’s game. Sign-ups for $15 per person must be made at the high school office by the end of Tuesday. Students who are 8th grade and under must have an adult with them. The bus will leave at 2:00 Wednesday from the upper south parking lot by the office doors of the High School. They are also accepting donations made out to the JCC Boys Basketball Association.