WHEELING, W.Va. — Staring at an 18-point deficit midway through the third quarter, it looked like Wheeling Central Catholic’s six-game winning streak would come to an end.
The Maroon Knights however picked up their level of play on the defensive end of the floor and they made clutch shots down the stretch to defeat Chapmanville, 67-66.
Eli Sancomb’s shot from the lane with nine seconds left capped the comeback for the Maroon Knights (19-2) as Central ended the game on an 18-6 run. Sancomb led all scorers with 29 points.
“They were so good defensively, especially at taking charges, we thought we had to be able to drive under control and either shoot floaters or play off of two feet, which he was able to do on that last possession,” said Wheeling Central Catholic head coach Mel Stephens.
Central chipped away at their sizable deficit late in the third quarter. They ended the frame on a 7-0 run to pull with eleven points [57-46] entering the fourth quarter.
“That was huge. If you are looking at that big deficit and you don’t make any headway going into the fourth, you have your work cut out for you, for sure. We tried to make them understand that there was still a lot of game left. All we had to do was get a few stops and then get a few buckets on our end.”
In the fourth quarter, the Maroon Knights yielded just nine points after allowing 19 to the Tigers in each of the first three quarters.
“Defensively, forcing some guys other than Joey Gollihue to shoot the ball, and then if they missed, getting the rebounds was big. I thought in the first half that they kind of controlled the boards a little bit and they got what they wanted. About halfway through the third quarter, things started going our way a little bit.”
Senior Tyler Dean scored 25 points for Central. He scored the final five points in the third quarter and his three-pointer with 30 seconds left in the fourth quarter pulled Central within a point at 66-65.
“He made some big, big shots throughout the game. There were a couple possessions where we missed him when he was open. He’s a very good shooter and one of the smartest kids on our team in terms of what we want to try to do on both ends. It was good to see him have a breakout game today.”
Wheeling Central has not lost since a one-point defeat to Williamstown on February 1. They will conclude their regular season Saturday against Notre Dame.
“Last week against Logan and today against Chapmanville, those are huge games as far as statewide goes. For us to be able to get two W’s out of those were big.”
Gollihue led Chapmanville (13-7) with 27 points. Keaton Terry added 20 points for the Tigers. Their regular season is complete. Both the Maroon Knights and the Tigers are seeded second in their respective regional tournaments.