BASKETBALL
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The Hawks' 3-12 start to the season may have tested the resolve of fans, but the faith of 11-year-old Caleb Jordan has never wavered.
Caleb, a member of the KidzWish sports academy program, celebrated his 11th birthday on Friday by draining a few shots on the WEC floor at three-quarter-time in the Hawks' 82-77 victory over the Kings.
He impressed the crowd with his prowess and on Wednesday shared a few shots with another sharp-shooter in his idol, Hawks captain Oscar Forman.
"Caleb's involved with the KidzWish Sports Academy and he's always loved the Hawks," mum Lisa explained.
"KidzWish have given us season passes which he just loves and Oscar Forman's one of his heroes. When he takes a free throw he does exactly what Oscar does, he spins the ball and wipes his hands on the bottom of his shoes just like Oscar.
"It was great for him to get out there on the court last Saturday to shoot a few shots, he was so excited."
Forman, who has led the NBL in three-point shooting for the past three seasons, was impressed with Caleb's radar.
"It was great to meet Caleb," he said.
"It was his birthday at the game on Saturday but I didn't get to see his buckets at three-quarter time, so it was good to come out and shoot some hoops with him."
On the court the Hawks have won their past two games at home and will be looking to deny Melbourne - who suffered their own home loss to the Breakers on Sunday - a road win on their first trip to Wollongong this season.
Jahii Carson (16), Rhys Martin (15), Luke Nevill (14) and Gary Ervin (13) all reached double figures as the Hawks edged out the Kings and Forman said it was vital that they build on the momentum from the upset win when they face Melbourne at home on Friday night.
"What I was really impressed with in the Sydney game was that there were times when the game was starting to slip away but we made big plays and we executed our offence," Forman said.
Despite a few lapses, many players were doing well, he said.
"That's how we're going to be a tougher team to beat.
"We don't care who scores as long as the team scores and that was a big strength of ours on Saturday night. We had a lot of guys producing."