KELLY BRINGS UNBEATEN RECORD INTO TOURNAMENT

The Kelly Hawks are off to a soaring start this season.

With an undefeated 6-0 record heading into last Friday's contest at Oak Ridge, the Hawks earned the No. 2 seed in the tournament and will open play against 15th-seed Chaffee at 10:30 a.m. Friday.

The Hawks, who placed fourth in coach Kent Mangels' first season at Kelly four years ago, will be shooting for their first finals appearance since 1981. The Hawks already claimed the Oran Tournament to start the season.

"We've had some big wins over (Class 4A) Jackson and (1A state-ranked) Delta," said Mangels. "We've started out well and the key to our success has been playing together as a team.

"It's really a credit to our kids because they've put their own games away and are doing the things they have to do to make us a better basketball team."

The Hawks' team play has provided all five starters double-digit scoring averages. Junior guard Jim Hulshof (6-1) leads Kelly with 20 points per game. Following behind him are junior Jason Glastetter (6-2) and senior Denver Stuckey (6-0) with 16-point averages.

"Denver has really stepped up his game and is playing a tremendous floor game," Mangels said. "Jason is a big, strong kid with cat-quickness. He's very hard to guard and has been getting on the boards strong."

Senior Ben Klipfel (6-1) and junior Russ Mothershead (6-1) both average 10 points a game. Klipfel has done his damage on the outside, while Mothershead has worked well on the inside.

"We've got a good mixture on the inside or outside," Mangels said. "We expect teams to try to shut down Stuckey and Hulshof, but we're hard to guard because we've got the other kids. I like the balance we've got.

"If a team tries to play us man-to-man, we have enough quickness to shake free and we're very hard to guard."

Besides the five starters, Mike Riley and Nathan Dirnberger provide depth from the bench. Mangels called Riley the team's best defender.

"This team has been a joy to work with," said Mangels. "The biggest things we're trying to tell them is to not get complacent. It's going to be a tough tournament up-and-down the line.

"As long as we stay fundamental and stay focused we'll have a good season."