By GREG MENGELT
Kaelin was good all day in wins over Linton-Stockton and Forest Park. But he was great in the second half of the second game with the regional on the line, making him the Hoosier Hills Hoops Boys’ Player of the Week.
After scoring 15 points in a 50-47 upset of No. 5 Linton-Stockton in the afternoon, Kaelin scored 20 of his game-high 26 points after halftime in Providence’s 44-37 championship game win over Forest Park.
The Pioneers managed just 10 points before halftime but outscored the Rangers 34-25 in the final 16 minutes.
“I just got a good feeling going in the second half and my teammates did a great job of getting me the ball where I could do something,” Kaelin told the News and Tribune. “We all just did those little things needed to win.”
“Casey is a big-time player. He’s always ready to step up against the high-level competition in the big moments,” Providence head coach Ryan Miller told The Hoosier Report with Matt Denison radio show on Monday. “For whatever reasons, we just couldn’t get shots to fall (in the first half). Eventually, Casey got a few to go down and it felt like everybody had a little bit of a collective sigh of relief. Then he started making plays and I think other guys fed off that, as well.”
Kaelin and the Pioneers (19-6) will face No. 9 Eastern Hancock (22-5) this Saturday at Seymour. The winner advances to the Class 2A state championship game a week from Saturday.
