Boys Basketball: Balanced Oilers stop Pioneers

Updated: November 25, 2011 10:10PM

HAMMOND — When assessing the attributes of his Whiting team, Oilers coach Derrick Milenkoff said his players’ trust and belief in each other translates to a very balanced scoring attack and a strong defense.

All of those qualities were evident in the team’s 58-45 victory over Clark on Friday night.

Three players scored in double figures for Whiting, which shot almost 50 percent from the floor in the second half and erased a one-point halftime deficit. Meanwhile, The Oilers’ defense limited the Pioneers to 30 percent shooting in the second half and forced numerous costly turnovers.

Gio Cruz scored 19 points to lead Whiting (2-0). Matt Filipek scored all of his 15 points behind the 3-point line, while Nick Filipek’s 13 points were helped by a trio of 3-point baskets. Clark (1-1) was led by Jean-Michael Bernateau’s 19 points and LeRoi Harmon’s 10 points.

“We really emphasize the defensive side of the game,” Milenkoff said. “That’s a main point to us: Defense wins ballgames and championships. The kids work hard in practice and on the court, and you can see that they believe and trust in one another. It’s obvious that we like to shoot the three, and that really opens up other aspects of the game for us.”

That was the case when Clark was still in hunt toward the end third quarter, down 29-26. But a pair of 3s by Matt Filipek with in 35 seconds put the Oilers in control. A three-point play by Cruz capped a 12-0 run and gave Whiting its first double-digit lead of the game at 37-26 with 1:20 left in the period.

The Oilers grabbed the early advantage with a pair of 3-point baskets in the first quarter to go up nine, only to see Clark erase that deficit in the second quarter and grab a 26-25 halftime lead.

“We made too many mistakes, especially in the second half,” Clark coach Joe Delgado said. “And we had too many turnovers, and we’re not going to win games that way.”

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