Isaac Carr a Central Catholic basketball star, a future Oregon Duck, a model teammate and, now, a state champion

The 6-foot-4 junior stole the show at the OSAA 6A boys basketball final, scoring a game-high 26 points to lead Rams to title

Author:
Dan Brood
Publish date:
Mar 18, 2024 4:05 PM EDT

It was just a simple, honest, innocent question.

It was posed late in the second quarter during the Class 6A boys basketball state championship game between Roosevelt and Central Catholic, played in front of a loud, sold-out crowd at the University of Portland’s Chiles Center.

The up-tempo action on the hardwood was going back and forth at a torrid pace. It was then when a woman from Portland Public Schools, who was taking photos from press row, turned and said, “Wow, who is that No. 0 from Central Catholic?”

By the end of Saturday’s title tilt, there’s little doubt that everyone crammed into the Chiles Center that night knew who No. 0 from Central Catholic was, as Isaac Carr introduced himself loud and clear.

The 6-foot-4 Central Catholic junior, and a University of Oregon commit, had what easily could be called an absolutely fabulous performance, helping lead the way for the Rams in an 85-76 come-from-behind win against the Roughriders, giving Central Catholic its first state championship since 1994.

After Central Catholic’s victory, as he and his Rams teammates walked out of the now nearly empty Chiles Center, Carr, with his head of blond hair and a shy grin, showed his modesty when asked about his standout performance.

“I just want to give a big thanks to my teammates for trusting me,” Carr said. “I was just trying to do my best to make plays and help us win. We all trusted each other, and we got it done.”

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When Central Catholic head coach David Blue was asked about Carr’s performance, his answer was short and sweet.

“Isaac Carr is good at basketball,” Blue said with a laugh.

He sure is, and that showed in the championship game.

While the numbers don’t tell all the story, the numbers Carr put up are certainly impressive.

He scored a game-high 26 points. He made 7 of 10 shots from the field (2 for 2 from 3-point range) and was 10 for 12 from the free throw line. He had seven rebounds, seven assists and two steals.

Did Carr have any sort of premonition that he was going to have that type of performance in the title game?

“No, I was just going out there, trying to do whatever I could to help our team win,” he said.

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What makes Carr’s performance even more impressive is that a little more than five weeks before the state tournament, his availability was in question.

During practice Feb. 1, Carr suffered a sprained left ankle — a badly sprained left ankle. He missed the final seven games of the regular season and the Rams’ first-round playoff game, an 84-56 home win over North Medford.

“He got the injury this year, and he was out for a while, and that was really tough on him,” Blue said. “It was his first time with a serious injury in his career. So, when he did return, he was a little tentative, but he trusted the process.”

He returned to action and played sparingly in the Rams’ 63-49 second-round win over Mountainside.

Carr was in the starting lineup when Central Catholic opened the state tournament with a 59-33 win over Jesuit in a quarterfinal contest, scoring a game-high 13 points. In the semifinals, where the Rams emerged with a 73-67 win over two-time defending state champion Tualatin in an absolute battle, Carr scored 17 points, tying him with sophomore Zamir Paschal for team-high honors.

In the state final, there seemed to be no limitations when it came to Carr’s injured left ankle.

“He has a great team around him, and we tried to keep him healthy,” Blue said. “He needed to get confident with his ankle, and today, he was confident with his ankle, because he went down the middle and he took off.”

“I felt good today,” Carr said. “I had a lot of adrenaline going, and I didn’t even notice it.”

That adrenaline was evident in the second quarter, as he threw down a thunderous dunk. The dunk ignited a scoring spree in which Carr had 11 points in the final 2 minutes and 40 seconds of the first half, helping the Rams trim a 13-point Roosevelt lead to a 43-36 deficit at the break.

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Carr and the Rams kept rolling in the third quarter.

Carr tallied 10 consecutive points during the period. He made back-to-back 3-pointers to give Central Catholic a 50-48 lead with 3:57 left in the quarter. The Rams wouldn’t trail again.

“He really stepped up today,” Blue said.

“Thanks to my teammates for helping get me open and getting me the ball, and I was just able to convert,” Carr said.

The best thing for Carr was when the final horn sounded and he got to celebrate a state championship with his teammates.

“It means everything to us,” he said. “We got together at the start of the season and talked about what we had to do to get it done and what sacrifices we had to make. We were able to stick to that, and we got it done.”

Now, Carr is hoping to get it done next year, as well.

“We’re trying to go back-to-back. That’s the goal,” he said.