Boys Basketball: Hawks on the rise again

Updated: January 26, 2012 9:30PM

It’s been 18 years since Hebron stunned mighty Michigan City Elston in the semifinals of the Michigan City Regional.

Little Hebron against the unsuspecting giant that was Elston. The Hawks didn’t stand a chance. Yet, they shocked everyone in attendance by beating the Red Devils before falling to Valparaiso in the evening championship.

Hebron was beaten just once during the 1993-94 regular season (though the Hawks later were awarded the win because of a forfeiture). A few years earlier, Hebron went 24-1, winning a sectional and losing in the regional. It was a special and memorable era — during the single-class days — for Hawks basketball.

But in the 17 seasons that have followed the 1994 regional shocker, Hebron has finished with a wining record just five times. The state moved to class basketball beginning with the 1997-98 season, and Hebron won a Class 1A sectional in 2006.

Those days of the early 1990s are distant memories now. But the 2011-12 version of the Hawks is beginning to stir those memories.

Nobody is ready to anoint Hebron as a program resurrected just yet, but at 12-1, the Hawks are off to their best start since that remarkable 1993-94 season.

Led by 6-foot-6 senior post player Cody Artuso and second-year coach John Steinhilber, Hebron won the South County Tournament just before Christmas and last week captured its first Porter County Conference Tournament title since 2002.

“I’m having the most fun I’ve ever had,” said Steinhilber, a native of southern Porter County, having graduated from Boone Grove in 1986.

For Steinhilber, this has been a strange reunion of sorts. He grew up on the Boone Grove side of the border between the Boone and Hebron schools. His father played basketball for Hebron in the 1950s and graduated from there.

Steinhilber spent six seasons at Calumet before moving on to South Central, where he spent another six seasons. After the 2009-10 season, when the Satellites finished 17-7, Steinhilber was let go.

He quickly landed on his feet at Hebron, where his wife is a second-grade teacher.

“It’s been a great experience,” said Steinhilber, who still teaches health and physical education at South Central. “The kids, they’ve met us more than halfway. They want to get better. They want to have success.”

Artuso has been key. He focused heavily on his game during the offseason, so much so that he now is considering playing basketball in college at the Division III or NAIA level.

Through 13 games, he’s averaging 16.5 points and 9 rebounds while shooting 60 percent from the field. During a win over Kouts in the championship game of the South County Tournament, Artuso became Hebron’s all-time shot blocks leader.

“Hebron has such a rich history, it’s pretty special to be a part of that,” Artuso said. “The team comes first. If someone is struggling, we help them. We’re all really close friends. We hang out, have dinner together. We’re like a family.”

Artuso creates all kinds of matchup troubles for opponents because of his size and versatility. Plus, Hebron has another big man in the post, 6-6 senior Jay Patz, who opponents must tend to.

“Cody’s opened up his game,” Steinhilber said. “He’s able to shoot the 3-pointer at times. He’s able to take the post players guarding him off the dribble and finish. I also think his low-post game has really improved.”

In addition to beginning the season with a 12-1 mark, Hebron concluded the regular season a year ago by winning 12 of its final 13 before falling to North Judson in the sectional. Add it up and the Hawks are 24-2 in their last 26 regular-season contests. The only other area team that can match that is Munster.

“The day after winning (the PCC Tournament), we were really happy,” Steinhilber said. “But you know what? I told them to enjoy it, but at practice on Tuesday, it’s over. We have to start getting better and get ready for the stretch run and sectionals.”

That’s Steinhilber’s way of saying Hebron still has work to do before the comparisons to the teams from the early 1990s become relevant. But don’t think for a minute that Steinhilber isn’t thrilled to be a part of that conversation — for a number of reasons.

“Some of my best friends are from Hebron, because we lived so close when I was growing up,” Steinhilber said. “My wife teaches there, and my kids go there, even though we live in Valparaiso. To be quite honest with you, it’s home for me.”

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