CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Wheeling Central Catholic led Williamstown by four points through three quarters of Saturday’s Class AA title game.
The Maroon Knights then ran off the first nine points of the final frame, carving up the Yellowjackets’ full court pressure during a 25-point fourth quarter that saw Central make 9-of-12 field-goal attempts and all but one of eight foul shots to pull away for a 59-40 victory at the Charleston Coliseum.
“They’re very focused and hate to lose. They knew it was crunch time,” Maroon Knights’ head coach Mel Stephens said. “We made a couple adjustments trying to get the ball to the paint. That changed the complexion of the game and when they had to start fouling us, we stepped to the line and made free throws.”
The win gives No. 2 Wheeling Central (24-2) its 11th state championship and first since 2018.
WCCHS standout Eli Sancomb scored the first five points of the final period, and his ball-handling and passing was instrumental to ensure Williamstown (21-4) wouldn’t disrupt the Maroon Knights.
Sancomb assisted a Max Olejasz layup and when Tyler Dean followed with a bucket, that made it nine straight for Stephens’ team, which led by 13 with 5:06 to play.
“Our strengths of schedule was great this year and we’ve played a bunch of tough games in the fourth quarter,” Sancomb said. “I knew in the fourth quarter we were going to win.”
The Yellowjackets got three-pointers from Parker Schramm and Wyatt Powell to pull to within 45-36 with 4:32 remaining, but Sancomb and Olejasz made separate field goals within 58 seconds to push the lead back to 13 with 2:51 left.
Williamstown never got closer than 11 the rest of the way.
“It really wasn’t part of our game plan to run our trapping presses because Eli is so tall and can see over them,” Williamstown head coach Scott Sauro said. “But he’s a terrific passer. He makes all of his teammates better and when he has a cutter, he finds them on the money. People don’t have to reach for the passes he throws them. When we were trapping, it was more out of desperation and we had to gamble a bit. When you gamble against great players, that result can happen.”
Dean and Troy Anthony each hit a triple early to help Central build an 8-1 lead, although the Yellowjackets settled in following the first media timeout and got a Jayden Bryant trey to close their deficit to 12-11 after one quarter.
Central still led by one with time winding down in the first half and the Yellowjackets were looking to hold for a final shot, but an illegal screen gave possession to the Maroon Knights with 4 seconds left.
Sancomb made the most of that time, dribbling into the front court and launching a running shot from about 40 feet that banked in, allowing Central to lead 22-18 at halftime.
“Anytime you hit a shot like that, guys get pumped,” Stephens said. “I don’t necessarily think it carried over, but it still gave us a little bit of a cushion going into the break.”
Williamstown put forth one of its better stretchers of the game over the first 4-plus minutes of the third quarter and utilized a Cruz Isaly triple along with Lynken Joy’s follow-up basket to go in front 23-22 for its second lead.
A traditional three-point play from Schramm left the Yellowjackets on top 28-27 at the 3:32 mark of the third, but the Maroon Knights closed the quarter on a pivotal 7-2 spurt and got a triple from Luke Sancomb for the final points of the period to lead 34-30.
“We made a third-quarter run and took the lead and they answered,” Sauro said. “That’s what championship teams do.”
Eli Sancomb led all players with 26 points and 15 rebounds. He added six assists and finished the state tournament with 72 points, 41 rebounds and 15 assists to garner most outstanding player honors.
Olejasz scored 14 and grabbed seven boards, while Anthony had eight points and Dean seven.
“They’re not a one-trick pony. They have other guys that can play and that’s why they’re in this game,” Sauro said.
Schramm and Isaly scored 11 apiece in defeat.
Williamstown shot 33 percent (15 for 45) and attempted more triples (24) than two-point field goals (21).
“They get a lot of credit for what they do offensively, and Eli Sancomb is a terrific player surrounded by a lot of really good shooters and a decent big guy,” Sauro said. “What doesn’t go as noticed is how well they defend. They did a nice job making it difficult for us to get touches and open looks.”
Central had a 31-26 rebounding edge and turned it over only six times.
“Our thing is always to rebound and take care of the basketball. If you do that, you should do pretty well,” Stephens said. “When you couple that with the defensive effort, you should always have a good chance to win a game.”
Class AA all-tournament team
Kadien Vance, Westside
Talan Muscari, Wyoming East
Tyler Dean, Wheeling Central
Cruz Isaly, Williamstown
Max Olejasz, Wheeling Central
Jayden Bryant, Williamstown
Parker Schramm, Williamstown
Most Outstanding Player: Eli Sancomb, Wheeling Central