CHARLESTON, W.Va. — No. 1 Wheeling Central reached overtime thanks to a pair of late 3-pointers by Boyd Bibey and then held off gritty No. 8 Charleston Catholic 73-66 in Wednesday’s Class A quarterfinals.
“I have to give Charleston Catholic credit. I thought they came out with a very good game plan in attacking the middle and attacking the offensive boards,” said Wheeling Central coach Mel Stephens. “To my kids’ credit, they never gave up. Late in regulation it looked like it was over. They were up six, with the ball and we figured they would come out and hold it.”
Trenton Smith scored a game-high 26 points yet the Maroon Knights (23-3) trailed 59-53 with 1:42 to go in regulation before Bibey drilled two 3s to force an extra session tied at 59-all.
“Going into those plays, in my mind, I was just thinking about catching the ball, get the ball up in the air and use my legs,” said Bibey, who finished with 15 points. “I get my reps in everyday and I get my jump shots up, so I have confidence to take big shots. Both of those felt really good.”
John Burkhalter’s layup-and-one put Wheeling Central up in overtime and the Maroon Knights iced the game with eight straight points.
“They were up six and in control, so to go into overtime, we felt good about it because we didn’t think we were going to get there,” Stephens said. “Really, it’s whoever comes out in those four minutes (of overtime) and can make a play. The key is to get the lead in overtime, then you force the other team to do some things a little bit different.”
Roger Burdette scored 21 to lead Charleston Catholic (15-9), which also lost to Wheeling Central in last season’s championship game in double-OT.
“We got better as the season went on and I truly believe that we played our best basketball at this time of the season,” said Charleston Catholic coach Matt Morrison. “In overtime, we just got off to a bad start. What really sticks out in my mind is the end of regulation. We had chances.”
WVU commitment Chase Harler finished with 17 points for the Maroon Knights, despite missing chunks of the first half in foul trouble.
Outscored in the paint 32-14, Wheeling Central needed a 13-of-24 effort from 3, where Boyd made 5-of-10 shots and Smith hit 6-of-8. Wheeling Central won the rebounding battle overall — barely — 41-39.
“We try to tell them to rebound,” Stephens said. “We didn’t do a very good job of that throughout the course of the game. But, down the stretch when we really needed them, we were able to get them.”
Wheeling Central jumped ahead 12-2 and led 20-13 after one quarter. All six of the Maroon Knights’ first-quarter baskets came from 3-point range (6-of-9).
Charleston Catholic made an 8-0 run in the second quarter, taking a 21-20 lead on back-to-back field goals from Haydon McCarty and James Ross. Charleston Catholic led 30-29 at the half.
After entering the final quarter tied at 44-all, Burdette’s layup-and-one put the Irish ahead. His free throws with 1:42 left stretched the margin to 59-53.
That’s when Bibey answered, hitting a 3 with 1:16 to go and—after a Charleston Catholic turnover—draining another 3 with just 34 seconds left. After the irish missed a jumper on the other end, Wheeling Central had the ball again for the final 12.3 seconds of regulation.
Harler drove into the lane and missed a contested shot, and Central’s put-back attempt missed as well, sending the game into overtime.
It was the second straight year Wheeling Central, as the No. 1 seed, needed overtime to win over the No. 8 seed in the quarterfinals.
“It shows that Class A is fairly competitive all the way through, 1 through 8,” Stephens said. “This year, I thought any one of the top four teams could have been a No. 1 seed. And 5 through 8, there’s no slack there. It’s very competitive. We were fortunate to come out last year and come out this year. It just shows the resolve of these guys.”
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