Central Catholic is set for Semi-State matchup with Triton

LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - One week ago five area teams remained alive in the hunt for a State Championship, and now there is one. The Central Catholic basketball team will play Triton at the Class A Lafayette Jeff Semi-State on Saturday.

For the third time in program history, Central Catholic will meet Triton with a chance to advance to the State Finals. The Trojans have the Knights' number, winning in 2008 and 2009 by a combined four points. The CC seniors don't want that to happen again.

“We were all sitting in the stands during those games watching our older brothers or our friends' older brothers play and it was just tough to see them lose. We know we don't want to go through that pain, we want to finish this season off right,” said Central Catholic senior Andrew Hubertz.

“I moved here in eighth grade and I was already told about the rivalry and being my first year here and talking about it so it means a lot to be that class that has a chance to knock them off,” said Central Catholic senior Jake Churchill.

Central Catholic comes into play on Saturday with lots of confidence and momentum. As the Knights just knocked off No. 1 ranked Rockville and 15th ranked Liberty Christian.  

“We just knew where everyone was going to be on all their cuts and our offense was working well. Our defense was doing even better and that's what the key to the game on Saturday is going to be,” said Central Catholic senior Timmy Mills.

“Coming in this weekend after beating a team that already beat us and then beating the number one team in the state with a 25 game winning streak definitely gives us a ton of confidence,” said Churchill.

The Knights hope playing less than a mile down the road will help them have a home court advantage. If history is any indication, it should, CC seniors have played 15 games at the Crawley Center.

“It's definitely going to be nice playing close to home especially with a lot of people around this area coming to watch us play. Big games mean a lot of intensity and a great atmosphere to play in,” said Hubertz.