CEDAR LAKE | It was Dustin Ketelaar’s Saturday night to shine in a nonconference showdown between Kankakee Valley and host Hanover Central.
The Times No. 5 Wildcats had no answer for Ketelaar and his Kougars as Ketelaar exploded for a career-high 32 points in a 54-43 upset of previously unbeaten Hanover.
“Dustin had a good night, and we had a good night,” K.V. coach Jeff Hamstra said.
Ketelaar tallied 15 of his points in the first half and carried it over into the second half as the Kougars (4-3) kept finding their leading scorer.
“We played as a team,” Ketelaar said. “They got me the ball when I was open, and I was able to hit some tough shots. We executed our plays perfectly.”
Meanwhile, the Wildcats were saddled with foul problems for much of the game and never got into an offensive flow.
“I thought Alonte Blackwell played some good defense on Hanover’s leading scorer Max Johnson,” Hamstra said. “I thought we had a good effort from a lot of our guys, and we played 10 guys.
“We were lucky to catch them on a night when they didn’t shoot the ball very well.”
K.V. led 13-10 after one quarter as Ketelaar scored 11 points. The Kougars then took advantage of some serious foul trouble for Hanover and stretched the advantage to 26-17 at the break.
Max Johnson picked up his third foul for the Wildcats with 3:30 left in the second quarter, while 6-foot-7 center Sean Kelly was already on the bench with two fouls. That sparked K.V. to a 7-0 run to finish the half.
Johnson, who scored a team-high 14 points, fouled out with 5:55 left in the game. Kelly fouled out less than a minute later.
“We took care of the ball tonight and played how we were supposed to play,” Ketelaar said.
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