HEALTHY HULSHOF TOO MUCH FOR ND

BENTON -- What a difference a relatively healthy Jim Hulshof makes for the Kelly High boys basketball team.

Hulshof, one of the area's top returning players from last season, had missed about a month of the campaign with a stress fracture in his foot.

The 6-foot-2 senior only recently returned to practice and he's played in a few games, slowly but surely building back up his health and confidence.

He's not sure if he's quite back to 100 percent -- but you'd have a hard time convincing Notre Dame of that.

Hulshof lit up the Bulldogs for 33 points Wednesday night as the Hawks pulled away late for a 79-68 victory on their home court.

Kelly, which has struggled some this season minus Hulshof and a few other players who have been hampered by various injuries, improved to 10-6 with their second big victory in as many nights. The Hawks edged Bernie by a point Tuesday.

Notre Dame, continuing to come up just short in recent games, fell to 4-11.

"It was tough not being able to play," said Hulshof, who has been a key member of the Kelly varsity since he was a sophomore. "I don't know if I'm 100 percent yet, but it's fun to be out there with the guys again. It's getting close to district time and we're trying to get everything together."

Hulshof put on a show, scoring about every way possible -- including hitting five 3-pointers, a couple of them from NBA range.

"Jim makes a difference for us, doesn't he," said a smiling Kelly coach Kent Mangels. "I've gotten a lot more gray hairs since he's been out."

Hulshof had plenty of help as Jason Glastetter added 18 points and Russ Mothershead contributed 13.

Notre Dame got 19 points from sophomore Mark Rubel, who hit five 3-pointers of his own. Zach Miller contributed 18 points and Adam Obermiller finished with 10.

The Bulldogs played without 6-7 Anthony Ressel, who was out with the flu. That no doubt hurt their inside game.

"It's the same old story for the Bulldogs," said Notre Dame coach Chris Janet. "We come out and play hard, and we play pretty well at times, but we don't do what it takes to beat good teams.

"Hulshof is a very good player. He's the leader of that team. They have other good players, but he makes them so much better."

Notre Dame started the game extremely strong as the Bulldogs built up a 13-3 lead in the first three minutes.

But Kelly used a 14-0 run to go ahead 17-13 and the Hawks never trailed again, although Notre Dame forced several ties and things were still up for grabs until the fourth quarter.

Kelly led 34-32 at halftime and the Hawks built a 49-41 edge late in the third quarter. But with Hulshof and Glastetter resting on the bench, Notre Dame clawed back to within 53-52 entering the final period.

Obermiller's driving shot one minute into the fourth quarter pulled Notre Dame into a 54-54 tie. Hulshof followed up his own miss 15 seconds later to put Kelly back on top 56-54 and the Hawks never again lost the lead.

It was 56-55 when Kelly used an 11-0 run to pretty much put the game away. Up 67-55, the Hawks never let the Bulldogs get closer than nine points again.

The Hawks hit 31 of 36 free throws in the game, including an amazing 19 of 20 in the fourth quarter, many of them coming late as the Bulldogs had to resort to fouling. Glastetter was 6-for-6 from the line in the final period while Hulshof went 5-for-6 and Mothershead went 4-for-4.

"We missed some big free throws in the fourth quarter and it seemed like they stepped up and hit every one," Janet said.

Added Hulshof, "Notre Dame is a big rival of ours and it's always a tough game. We're glad to get the win."

And the Hawks are no doubt elated to have Hulshof back on the court.