Central Catholic boys roll past Carroll, 56-34

The foot pain that began during football season followed Central Catholic senior Andrew Hubertz into the winter.

One of the area’s best returning 3-point shooters, Hubertz’s accuracy suffered during the first half of the basketball season because he couldn’t elevate as well off of that injured left foot. The pain worsened, until the forward finally took a game off at Attica on Jan. 26.

The rest apparently helped, because Hubertz has been one of Central Catholic’s most consistent players throughout February. That continued Friday night, when his 17 points and six rebounds led the Class A No. 8 Knights to a 56-34 victory over Carroll at Memorial Gymnasium.

“The rest and the stuff I’ve been doing, a little bit of rehab here and there, has been helping a lot because I can get up and down the court a little better and actually play instead of sitting out,” said Hubertz, who scored all of his points in the first 18 minutes, 40 seconds of play.

Fellow CC seniors Jake Churchill and Timmy Mills combined for 17 points and 10 rebounds as the Knights (13-8) won their fifth straight. They also extended their winning streak over Carroll to 15 games, dating back to 2003.

Over his last seven games, Hubertz is averaging 18.4 points while shooting 42.9 percent from 3-point range. CC has scored 52 or more in every game during that stretch except a home loss to Harrison.

“It helps the team a lot, because then guys can just drive to the hoop,” said CC senior center Matt Thieme, who contributed eight points off the bench. “Defenses are going to suck in and we’re going to have two shooters open on the outside at least, and Andrew’s usually one of them.”

The game turned in the third quarter when, after Carroll (12-9) had pulled within six, Hubertz scored eight straight points. He hit two of his three 3-pointers in that stretch, including one with 5:20 left in the third that put the Knights up 34-22.

“We had our chances there, and we lost track of him a few times,” said Carroll senior guard Brady Wiles, who scored a team-high eight points. “He’s a great player, and hit the shots when he had them.”

Carroll came into the game shooting 52.7 percent as a team, with three players among the top five in the area in field goal percentage. Central Catholic came at them with man-to-man defense, putting the 5-foot-11 Mills on Eric Miller, the Cougars’ 6-7 leading scorer.

With other Knights offering help defense when needed, Miller scored six points — less than half his average — and Carroll shot 13 for 34 (38.2 percent) for the game.

“I think they defended us in the half-court better than anyone has all season long,” Carroll coach Matt Weaver said. “They were very physical, applied a lot of ball pressure then denied the wings really well, and took us out of our rhythm offensively.”

Miller is one of four players who stands 6-5 or taller, while CC has only one, 6-6 junior reserve Nick Thompson. But four rebounds from the 6-3 Hubertz in the first quarter helped set the tone for a 30-25 rebounding edge for the Knights.

“Andrew was boxing out well, and he crashes for the boards harder than anyone we’ve played,” Thieme said. “In practice, he’ll go right after the ball, no matter where it is.”