CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Frankfort coach Scott Slider didn’t envision Wheeling Central Catholic playing in transition as often as it did.
Slider found out quickly into Tuesday’s Class AA quarterfinal that the Maroon Knights wanted to push the pace and do so consistently.
By doing exactly that, Central had constant success in transition and bolstered by a record-setting effort from reigning Evans Award winner Eli Sancomb, who recorded a triple-double early into the second half, the Maroon Knights cruised to a resounding 95-56 victory in a Class AA at the Charleston Coliseum.
“We made it tough for them to get good shots. The key to the defensive possessions is defensive rebounding and we did a really good job of that, especially In the first half,” Central coach Mel Stephens said. “We got out and ran. Eli made some great passes and got guys some easy layups. We came in and did what we needed to do tonight.”
The result sends the defending state champion Maroon Knights to a Friday quarterfinal against No. 5 Wayne.
Before the matchup was 3 minutes old, Central (21-0) had a 12-0 lead as the Maroon Knights mixed offensive execution with defensive prowess to largely take hope away from FHS (15-10) early.
“It definitely helps to let the guys relax a little bit and puts a little more pressure on the other team,” Stephens said.
The Falcons played the remainder of the opening frame even and trailed 22-10 after one. While Nico Kusic and Luke Sancomb led WCCHS with six points apiece through one quarter, Eli Sancomb had six assists, which was a sign of things to come.
After shooting 10 for 18 in the opening quarter, Central was even better in the second and connected on 11-of-19 shots. During that period, 6-foot-6 senior Max Olejasz shot 8 for 8 and scored 16 points, while Eli Sancomb scored 10 to go with five boards and six assists in the frame.
“We practice [transition offense] every day. It’s big for us, especially with Max and how athletic he is,” Eli Sancomb said. “We feel that’s where we’re best at is in transition.”
At halftime, the Maroon Knights had a 48-25 lead, 21 field goals, 15 assists and three turnovers.
“Some of the things that we saw and what we were planning on was not quite what they did,” Slider said. “We didn’t expect them to play in transition quite as much as they did from what we’d seen on film. We didn’t push the basketball as well as we typically would. It put us behind to start with and we couldn’t makeup that ground.”
Central hardly letup in the third, making 10-of-13 shots, including 4 for 4 shooting from Luke Sancomb to force the Falcons into a 72-40 deficit ahead of the fourth.
Eli Sancomb finished with 23 points, an all-class state tournament record 16 assists and 13 rebounds.
Olejasz shot 13 for 15 and poured in a team-high 27 points to go with seven rebounds.
“Either Eli’s going to get the rebound or I will, and if he has the ball in his hands, I have to take off, because he’ll find me or find somebody else for a three or a layup,” Olejasz said.
Luke Sancomb scored 14 and Steven Brodegard contributed eight rebounds to help Central control the glass, 50-31.
Jeremy Phillips led Frankfort with 34 points on a Class AA state tournament record 34 field-goal attempts.
“Wheeling is a really good team,” Phillips said. “It was hard to get by some of them, but any opening I had, I tried to get my shot.”