Wheeling Central Rallies To Stun Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Knight erase 14-point deficit to win
WHEELING — Thursday night was one to remember for everyone in attendance at the newly named Coach “Skip” Prosser Court. The 1966 and 1988 Wheeling Central state championship teams were honored, the court was dedicated to the legendary Knights coach Skip Prosser and the night was capped off by a remarkable 14-point comeback by the Maroon Knights to edge the preseason top-ranked team in West Virginia, Clarksburg Notre Dame, by a 64-62 count.
Notre Dame completely dominated the first half and led 41-27 at halftime. Instead of calling it quits and giving up, Wheeling Central coach Mel Stephens and the Maroon Knights made some adjustments and put on a second-half show for a packed house in attendance for a historic night for Wheeling Central.
“At halftime, a lot of other teams would have packed it in right there,” Stephens said. “We were playing the No. 1 team in the state, down by 14 and haven’t really had a whole lot going for us in the first half. We just made a couple of adjustments at halftime and I thought the kids came out and really battled. We still gave up some plays but we kept fighting and fighting.
“Coach Chip Calissie told them during a late timeout to get the lead and if we got the lead, we were going to win and that is the way it turned out.”
Wheeling Central was outscored 24-9 in the second quarter but came back to edge the Fighting Irish 22-13 in the third to cut the deficit to 54-49.
Gabe Rohmann might have set the tone in the second-half comeback for Central Catholic as he connected on two 3-pointers coming out of the locker room to get the crowd on its feet and cut the Notre Dame lead to eight points. Then, with 3:50 to go in the third, Wheeling Central went on a 9-0 run to trim the score to 48-46 with 1:40 left in the quarter.
As the Maroon Knights trailed by seven early in the fourth, Owen Gainer stepped back and drained a clutch 3-point field goal. With 2:40 left in the game, Gainer rose to the occasion once more and drilled another trey to make it a 60-59 Irish lead.
Notre Dame’s talented Jarrod West used a strong crossover step-back jumper to make it a three-point advantage for Notre Dame.
This time it was Brent Price who supplied the heroics for Central Catholic as he connected from 3-point range to tie the game at 62-62 with 1:31 left in the game.
After a Notre Dame missed field goal and a rebound by Gainer, the Irish fouled him to send him to the line.
Gainer was successful on both shots to give the Knights the advantage with 54 second to go and they did not relinquish the lead.
Notre Dame had several fouls to give before putting Wheeling Central in the 1-and-1 and the Knights were able to run off most of the clock during that time.
Central Catholic missed a free throw with 4 seconds to go and the Irish put up a halfcourt prayer that was unanswered, giving Wheeling Central an amazing comeback win.
“We just kept chipping away,” Stephens said. “They (Notre Dame) were getting a little bit tired and we made them work for everything that they got. They had to really battle to get the ball where they wanted and I think their legs went out a little bit and we were able to come up with a couple big shots and defensive rebounds.”
Central Catholic was led by Price who tallied 22, while Gainer produced 18 and Rohmann supplied 14.
The comeback win was just a bonus to such a special night of celebrating Wheeling Central tradition and history.
“We talked to the team (Wednesday) about how special this was going to be,” Stephens said. “Getting the court in Prosser’s name and what he meant to Central and to basketball, along with the two championship teams coming back, we just told them that is something to be proud of and it is part of our tradition.
“We wanted those guys to come back and remember (this) and make it special for them. I think they would be proud of the effort our team gave and we probably had a little bit of help from above as well.”
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