CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Wheeling Central carried with it the pressure of trying to repeat as a state champion and finish off an unbeaten season.
Neither task proved too tough for the No. 1 Maroon Knights, which held the Warriors to 32 percent shooting and 11 field goals over the final three quarters of a 55-39 victory in the Class AA title game at the Charleston Coliseum.
“The first half, offensively, we didn’t play as well as we could, but giving up 23 points was a really good job defensively,” Maroon Knights’ coach Mel Stephens said. “If we could duplicate that in the second half, we had a good chance to win. They went over and above that in the second half and only gave up 16.”
The result allows Central (23-0) to complete an unbeaten season and garner a second straight state championship.
“As the game starts to wear on, you get that feeling that you’re in pretty good control and then it starts to sink in a little bit that you’ll have a really good chance to win the state championship,” Stephens said. “To go undefeated against the schedule we played is a testament to how hard these guys work and how hard they compete. They want to win everything they can.”
No. 2 Wyoming East (22-3) accomplished much of what it wanted to in the opening two quarters and trailed 24-23 at halftime before the Maroon Knights seized control of the contest.
Stephens’ squad scored the first seven point of the third quarter on a Nico Kusic floater, Max Olejasz three-pointer and Eli Sancomb’s follow-up, and though WEHS guard Keegan Davidson countered with a bucket for his team’s first points of the second half, it was abruptly answered by another Olejasz trey out of a timeout the made it 34-25.
“When you get stops, it makes the offensive end a little bit more important to where if you can score, you extend the lead and put more pressure on the other team,” Stephens said. “All year, we played really good defense. We preached that all the time. These guys bought into if you play really good defense, you have a good chance to win games.”
Central had an answer each time, including directly after Talan Muscari’s three-point play, which came courtesy of Sancomb’s three, leaving the Maroon Knights in front 38-28 through three quarters.
“Just find a way to win. That’s what we said at halftime,” Eli Sancomb said. “The defensive end is what won the game. It shows how tough our guys are. If we’re not making shots, we’re still going to get back and guard.”
Before the fourth was 2 minutes old, the advantage grew to 15 when Luke Sancomb connected from long range.
“We struggled offensively and that led to them making their run,” Wyoming East coach Kent McBride said. “It wasn’t our defense. It was our offense and that’s on me.”
Davidson responded with a triple, but East never got its deficit inside a dozen down the stretch.
The Warriors got triples from Braxton Morgan and Muscari as part of an 8-0 run in the opening quarter, turning a five-point deficit into a 13-10 advantage in the process.
Central countered with five unanswered points on a Steven Brodegard layup and Luke Sancomb triple to lead after one quarter.
The Maroon Knights were held to nine second-quarter points and settled for a 24-23 halftime lead.
Eli Sancomb scored 21 points to go with 11 rebounds, while Luke Sancomb and Olejasz contributed 10 apiece. Brodegard and Kusic combined for 14 points on 7-for-7 shooting.
“Everybody just stays late and works or they show up in the morning to work real hard,” Olejasz said.
Davidson led WEHS with 16 points and Muscari scored 11.
Eli Sancomb played a big role in helping hold East standout Broc Johnson scoreless.
“I thought I was a really good basketball player. The guy who held me to 0 points is a really good basketball player,” Johnson said. “I have a lot of work to do.”
Both teams had one turnover.
“This has to be the lowest amount of turnovers in a state championship game,” McBride said. “The difference in the game is they executed a little bit better offensively than we did. Couldn’t be more proud of the bunch I have.“