Annandale junior AJ Hinz has spent the early part of his career doing the dirty work, and he holds the title of chairman of the boards but Thursday he stood front and center in a 60-50 victory over Holy Family Catholic in Victoria.

Hinz, who has started for the Cardinals since his freshman year, scored a game-high 19 points and finished with 10 rebounds to live up to his title in leading Annandale (5-0) to its fifth straight victory.

“We brought him up initially as a ninth-grader because that particular team, we needed someone just to rebound,” Cardinals head coach Skip Dolan said. “We didn’t care if he scored a bucket. That’s what he brought. He was just chairman of the boards.”

Annandale graduated five of its top seven last year and Hinz came into this season expecting to shoulder more of the scoring load. He still knows where he’s going find his points.

“We just kind of find options and get good looks,” Hinz said. “The easiest points I can get are off rebounds.”

The No. 3-2A Cardinals trailed 30-24 at halftime but engineered a 10-0 run at the start of the second half to pull away from the Fire.

Hinz tied the game 2 minutes, 30 seconds into the second half and Trenton Peterson gave Annandale its first lead of the half with 14:39 left to play.

Holy Family (3-3) went the first six minutes of the second half without a field goal.

“We were getting what we wanted out of our offense and then when they weren’t going in, our four-point lead went to an eight-point deficit,” Fire head coach Matt Thuli said. “Then I think we started pressing and not taking as good of shots for us.”

Holy Family made an abbreviated run to close to a two-point game with 7:03 left to play after Brad Fering knocked down a three-pointer.

Hinz continued to carry the load for the Cardinals and completed a three-point play to go up 47-41 with less than four minutes to play.

Nick Bieniek finished with 13 points for Annandale and Jarod Wilken added 12 points. Wilken handled much of the pressure the Fire tried to apply capably.

Lincoln Cizek and Nathan Hendler led Holy Family with 13 points each. Cizek had 11 of those points in the first half.

“We were patient with our passing and we picked them off there at the end,” Dolan said.

Annandale junior AJ Hinz finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds in a 60-50 victory over Holy Family Catholic Thursday night in Victoria.

Hinz and the Cardinals (5-0), ranked No. 3 in Class 2A by Minnesota Basketball News, erased a four-point halftime deficit with a 10-0 run. Annandale also held the Fire without a field goal through the first six minutes of the second half.

Nick Bieniek added 13 points for the Cardinals and Jarod Wilken finished with 12.

Annandale, which has reached the state tournament the past four years, asked for more out of Hinz this season after he earned a reputation as the team’s leading rebounder. He delivered against the Fire with 11 points in the second half.

Lincoln Cizek and Nathan Hendler led the Fire 13 points each.