Carroll boys’ defense clamps down on Andover

Connor Evans, one of Bishop Carroll’s tallest players, guarded Andover point guard Josh Norlin near halfcourt late in Thursday night’s game. There was plenty of space for Norlin to dribble and create.

Finally, a matchup the Trojans could exploit.

Except, like other potential mismatches, Carroll nullified it. Norlin tried to dribble, but Evans snuck his hand and swatted the ball away, leading to a Golden Eagles basket.

Carroll (15-6) had several similar plays in a 63-36 home win over the Trojans in the semifinals of a Class 5A sub-state. The No. 3-seed Eagles advance to meet No. 2-seed Andover Central in Saturday’s championship with a trip to the 5A tournament on the line.

“I tell our guys that effort wins games,” Evans said. “We have to have the mindset that every ball is ours, that we’re the toughest team in Kansas, and that will get us to where we want to go.”

The Eagles guard the basketball and everyone who might get it, and there doesn’t seem to be an obvious way to consistently beat all five defenders.

They defend inbound passes near the opponent’s basket and chase players nearly to the other side of the court to deny the basketball. They defend near halfcourt and don’t allow teams to set up their offenses, forcing opponents to hurry and often inducing mistakes.

Tall players guard short ones and short players battle in the paint, collapsing on opposing centers but possessing the quickness to defend perimeter shots on the kickout. It’s a style that wears down opponents but somehow doesn’t tire the Eagles.

“Every day in practice we go 110 percent,” Evans said. “That’s just how we train every day, we go super hard. If we don’t, Coach (Lonnie Lollar) finds us and he’ll make us go that hard.”

Carroll’s defense kept Andover from building off of a pair of Chase Oberg three-pointers in the second quarter, and the Trojans got almost nothing inside because they often couldn’t set up the offense.

Andover’s primary ballhandlers, Norlin and Drake Short, combined for nine turnovers. The rest of the Trojans had 11 more.

“Our defensive energy was really good at times, and we fed off it tonight,” Lollar said. “We seemed to get something out of that tonight.”

Carroll never led by fewer than 10 points in the second half. Evans scored 10 of his game-high 20 points in the second half, using as much versatility with the basketball as he and his team showed when Andover had it.

The Eagles covered the other bases of defense well, as Andover made 12 of 41 shots, had three offensive rebounds, and Carroll forwards Eric Scharpring and Jake Allen combined for 15 rebounds.

“If you can make them uncomfortable, even against the best of teams, they’ll break down on offense,” Evans said. “That’s in the back of their mind that someone’s in their shorts. That’s what we try to do, we heat them up and try to get in their heads.”

Andover: Short 3, Renoux 5, Wilson 5, Oberg 11, Brown 7, Butler 5.

Carroll: Iseman 6, Wilbert 10, Hornback, Carney 11, Allen 2, Kennedy 2, Demel 2, Evans 20, Scharping 6.