Catholic boys show why they're No. 1, 74-54

There’s a reason Catholic High School’s boys basketball team is ranked No. 1 in the state in Class AA.

The Irish can beat you in so many ways.

Catholic (18-1, 7-0 District 4-AAA) spotted host Christian Academy of Knoxville a 6-0 lead on Friday night before taking charge as the Irish notched an impressive 74-54 victory.

Catholic blitzed the Warriors (10-13, 2-4) with a 43-13 run to end the first half after falling behind early.

“They (CAK) were energized to start the game,” said Catholic coach Mike Hutchens.

“We called timeout, Luke (Smith) hit a 3 and we starting getting the ball inside.”
Indeed.

Brock Jancek, a 6-foot-7 junior post, scored 11 of his 17 points in the first quarter as the Irish rebounded to take a 22-13 lead. Jancek added six rebounds and two blocks.

The usual suspects also did their parts for the Irish.

Smith, a senior point guard, scored 13 of his game-high 22 points in the third quarter. Smith added seven assists, hit four 3-pointers and was 8 of 15 from the field.

“He (Smith) was on fire,” said Hutchens.

Senior forward Chase Kuerschen (14 points, five rebounds) brought his usual blue-collar game for the Irish.

Jack Sompayrac added eight points for the Irish.

Catholic also got a lift from senior guard Davari Reeder, who is rounding back into playing form after missing much of the season with a leg injury.

“That’s big,” said Hutchens. “He has been hurt all year, and that’s the most minutes he has got all year.”

Turner Helton led CAK with 16 points. Isaiah Sulack had 11 and Hunter Reynolds seven.

No. 492: The win inched Hutchens closer to 500 career wins as Catholic’s coach. In his 28th season, Hutchens has a 492-244 record with the Irish.

Catholic won its 15th game in a row Friday night, but still has a ways to go to catch the 1998 Irish who won their first 23 games before losing in the region semifinals.

Stat of the game: Catholic shot 52 percent (28 of 54) from the field to CAK’s 38 percent (19 of 50). Smith, Jancek and Kuerschen were a combined 21 of 36 (58 percent).