Joe Hoekstra seemed caught off guard when he was told right after the Streator Bulldogs' 50-39, Illinois Central Eight Conference victory Tuesday at Pops Dale Gymnasium over visiting Reed-Custer that, in addition to his team-high 19 points, he also brought down 24 rebounds, the most in program history in decades, if not ever.

The Bulldogs senior post had no doubts it was the most rebounds he’d ever recorded in a game, though.

“Oh yeah,” he said. “Definitely.”

Hoesktra’s 19-point, 24-rebound double-double carried the Bulldogs (5-2 overall, 4-0 ICE) through a tough shooting night – 20-of-56 (35.7%) from the field, 2-of-18 (11.1%) from 3-point range and 8-of-17 (47.1%) from the free-throw line – and past a young but scrappy Comets team that refused to go away.

Reed-Custer (3-5 overall, 1-3 ICE) trailed by nine points midway through the second quarter before fighting back to take a 23-21 lead, then fell behind by as many as 15 (48-33) before climbing back to get within a couple possessions again late in the ICE loss.

“I kept preaching, ‘Shots are going to fall. Keep battling, keep playing hard,’” Comets coach Tyler Schoonover said. “And we had to try to keep No. 25, Hoekstra, off the boards. Man, he’s a load. He was the overriding factor.”

Without a doubt.

Hoesktra’s huge night was helped by the large volume of shots attempted – Reed-Custer was 14-of-53 (26.4%) to go with Streator’s 20-of-56 – no doubt, but was also a product of his 6-foot, 5-inch frame and relentless energy.

“They were shooting a lot, our defense was stepping up, contesting them and made them miss, and then I was down there getting rebounds, boxing out hard,” Hoesktra said. “It was a bit of a fight down there at some points ... and [when we had the ball] I was really moving around down there. My teammates were getting to the paint, and some of [their shots] didn’t fall.

“So I was right there, grabbed them and put them back up.”

Hoesktra already had a double-double secured by halftime with 15 points and a dozen rebounds.

“In the course of the game, we knew he was getting a lot,” Streator coach Beau Doty said. “He gets his hands on everything, and the thing about Joe is it’s a combination of great hands, timing and he’s just relentless. His motor just doesn’t stop.

“His leap from probably mid-June to now is really remarkable. For the first time being kind of “the man’ on a varsity team ... it’s coming to fruition now.

“When you talk about reasons we win a game, you can talk about a lot. But his presence is the reason we won the game.”

Still, the Bulldogs – who also received a 16-point performance from Brennen Stillwell, eight points, five rebounds and three blocked shots courtesy of Riley Stevens, five points courtesy of Colin Byers and an overall 43-29 edge in rebounding – had to sweat it out.

Reed-Custer’s rallies were fueled by a defense that harvested the passing lanes en route to forcing 14 turnovers on the evening and 3-point shooting. Most of the latter came courtesy of sophomore Matt Kuban, who drained five 3s and finished with a 19 points to go with his also-team-high eight rebounds.

“He’s our leading scorer and was our second-leading scorer as a freshman last year,” Schoonover said of Kuban. “We start four sophomores. We’re young, we’re learning. I think we’re going to get better every single night.”

Lone upperclass starter Jesse Tresouthick added 11 points and three steals, with Kaiden Klein posting five points, three steals and six rebounds.

Reed-Custer has Gardner-South Wilmington in Braidwood on Wednesday ahead of a Friday ICE home game against Manteno.

The Bulldogs are scheduled to host another ICE contest this Friday, welcoming Coal City to the Pops.