Oilers pour cup o’ Joe
Hawkins explodes for 29 points in blowout home victory
WHITING — You might say Whiting senior forward Joe Hawkins was feeling it Tuesday night in the Oilers’ home game against Hebron.
So much so that he poured in 29 points as the Whiting cruised to a 68-47 win over Hebron.
“Yeah, we were able to get the ball in close, just like coach (Tim) Hopps said,” Hawkins confirmed. “Get the ball inside and use the backboard. When we play good defense like we did that helps get our offense going.”
The Oilers (5-3) shot a sizzling 58 percent in the first quarter to jump out to a 22-12 advantage, paced by Hawkins’ 14 points. Martin Petruf pitched in with eight to account for all of Whiting’s firstquarter points.
Hawkins put an exclamation point on the end of the first half with a steal at halfcourt and a slam dunk to give Whiting a 34-21 halftime advantage. Hawkins accounted for 20 of the Oilers’ 34 first-half points. Carson Roeske led the Hawks at the break with nine.
The Oilers weren’t through after the half as they outscored the Hawks 17-12 in the third quarter to lead 51-33 and managed to open up a 19 point lead with 2:09 left in the third. Another Hawkins midcourt steal and slam ignited the Whiting crowd again. The Oilers had eight players in the scoring column, with Petruf finishing with 13.
“We missed a lot of open shots in our last game against South Central,” Hopps said. “(Tuesday) we used the backboard, we stressed to use the backboard and get the ball inside and we got some easy shots. I am just so happy for Joe. He’s a great leader and he is a guy the other players look up to.”
Hebron (5-2) made a run and cut the lead to 54-42 with just over four minutes remaining but couldn’t get any closer. Roeske led the Hawks with 13 and Bryce Hanaway had 11.
“He (Hawkins) played well but we made some mistakes and let him get going,” Hebron coach John Steinhilber said. “We played the same way in our last game (against South Central), uninspired, no heart, no toughness, but I can live with the way we played the last nine minutes.
“They’re (Whiting) a good ball club and a sectional opponent plus they were playing with a heavy heart (after the passing of assistant football coach Victor Sahagun Friday). We kind of weathered the storm for a while — it was a six-point game before Hawkins got going.”