The Southeast Indiana Heat, which is comprised of basketball players from southeast Indiana, has completed successful AAU 17-and-under play by winning the Midwest Youth National Championship held in Louisville, Ky.

Prior to that victory, the local area squad, which is coached by Craig Houk, participated in the Southport Travel League that drew many of the up-and-coming stars in the Indianapolis area. They ended the regular season with a 9-0 record and won the post-season championship. Following the Midwest National, the Heat had a season’s record of 30-5.

Playing with the Heat involved a significant sacrifice for the players and their families since the league started play shortly after the state tournament ended. That meant four or five weeks of leaving school, and in some cases track or baseball practice, hurrying to Indianapolis, playing that night, returning home and getting to bed near midnight on a school night.

The sacrifices created a sense of family and camaraderie.

“II really feel like we are a family - the kids play well together,” reported Houk. “I let them play through their mistakes. Now we have a bond that can’t be broken. We all stick together and support each other.”

The core group for the team consisted of Craig Houk of Greensburg and Blake Sutton, Matt Gehl and Tim Arnett of Jac-Cen-Del. Added to the core for the Southport league were Alex Jobst and Zach Meyer of Batesville and recent graduates from Greensburg High School, Zach Brown and D.J. Wright.

The AAU team consisted of the four core players and Sean Powell of Lawrenceburg, Brendon Bragg and Kyle Green of Switzerland County and Latroi Wright of Greensburg.

In winning the Southport post-season tourney, the Heat defeated the Southport Elite 102-78, the Indianapolis Zoom 77-70, Ben Davis 68-64 and the Indianapolis Gators 75-63 in the final game.

At the Midwest National, the Heat went 3-0 in poll play to earn a top seed In the process. They defeated the Tennessee Elite 80-60, Wisconsin Nelson County 82-52 and the Hoosier Hornets 82-59.

In tournament play, the Elite defeated the Indianapolis Bulls 82-59, Anderson Elite 77-50 and the Birmingham, Ala., Express 77-65 in the championship game.

In the tournament, the Heat outscored its opponents by an average of 21.7 points with the closest margin the 12-point victory over Birmingham in the championship game.

According to Houk, he has a secret that makes his squads competitive.

“Every coach is looking for the secret to being the best,” he said. “I can’t give it out. I just call it ‘vision.’ It is the ability to see what some people will never see.”