CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Wheeling Central put together a business-like second half on Thursday evening in the boys basketball state tournament quarterfinals, eliminating No. 8 Tyler Consolidated 71-52.
The top-seeded Maroon Knights (23-2) led 32-25 at the break, but really took control in the third quarter, outscoring Tyler Consolidated 21-6 for a 53-31 advantage heading into the fourth.
“At halftime we talked – and a lot of it was on defensive stuff,” said Wheeling Central coach Mel Stephens. “Even through they only had 25 points, I thought they outhustled us and beat us to all of the 50-50 balls. They just played better than we did in the first half.”
Central Catholic went 16 of 20 from the floor in the second half (80 percent) after a 9 of 26 effort in the first half (35 percent).
“We challenged the kids a little bit to get out there and really guard,” Stephens said. “We made a few shots in the third quarter and when you start to extend that lead a little bit, it puts a little bit more pressure on their offense.”
Senior leaders Owen Gainer and Brent Price led the way for Central Catholic as Gainer finished with 22 points and four assists. Price totaled 14 points, seven rebounds and seven assists in the win as well.
Anthony Robbins was the most efficient from the floor, hitting 6 of 7 shots and finishing with 13 points for Central.
“He played well,” Stephens said of Robbins. “He can do those things. Sometimes he wants to do things that maybe he’s not so good at.
“But he can get to the rim and finish pretty well,” he continued. “We did a good job of finding him and that was another thing we talked about at halftime, was trying to get the ball inside a little bit more.”
The Maroon Knights outscored Tyler Consolidated 38-20 inside the paint and won the rebounding battle 35-25.
“Sometimes we want to settle for the jump shots and if they’re going in, it’s good,” Stephens said. “But if it’s not going in, we feel like we have some guys who can score inside. They showed that in the third quarter, especially.”
Tyler Consolidated (17-9), making its first state tournament appearance since 2002, was led by Tyler West who scored 22 points in the loss.
The win for Central Catholic sets up a semifinal at 7:15 p.m. on Friday against either Notre Dame or Trinity.
“We have to play better (Friday) and they know that,” Stephens said. “We split with Notre Dame and beat Trinity twice, but the second time was in overtime. They know what’s in front of them. Hopefully we got the bad game out of our system and we can come back tomorrow and play a little bit better.”
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