Wheeling Central Boys Are Too Much For Cameron in Class A Region One, Section One Semifinal
MOUNDSVILLE — Wheeling Central proved it is one of the teams to beat in West Virginia Class A.
In another impressive showing, the Maroon Knights defeated Cameron, 63-44 in a Region One, Section One semifinal game at the John Marshall Field House to move on to the championship to face Madonna on Thursday.
“I thought our pressure hurt them,” Maroon Knights (21-2) coach Mel Stephens said. “We turned them over a good bit and that allows us to get out into transitions and get some easier chances. They’re definitely a handful with their big kids, with their high, low. For the most part, I thought we did a pretty good job defending. Offensively, I think we need to be a little more selective as far as when we have the lead, don’t settle for jump shots. Overall, I thought it was a good effort by our guys.”
John Burkhalter had a solid first quarter for Wheeling Central as he contributed 11 of his team-high 19 in that span. Owen Gainer hit three shots from behind the arc as he secured 13 points while Gabe Rohmann netted 12. Burkhalter was also hot from behind the 3-point line as he also secured three.
The Maroon Knights took its first double-digit lead after a Brent Price basket to put the score at 25-15 with 4:32. The lead increased to as many as 20 after a pair of Romann free throws. The Dragons, then cut the lead to 14 early in the third quarter on a Trey Scott bucket to cap a 6-0 run. The Maroon Knights answered with two quick 3-pointers. One by Romann and one by Burkhalter to put the lead back to 20, 45-25.
With 4:11 to go in the third, a Trey Routt 3-pointer gave the Dragons a little momentum. The lead was cut to 15, after a 7-2 Cameron run that ended on a Trey Hart basket. The Maroon Knights, however had two quick 3s again to respond, both by Burkhalter as the score was 57-34 in favor of Wheeling Central.
“Our kids don’t give up,” Cameron (14-10) coach Tom Hart said. “They keep battling and they had to battle back several times this year.
“But we would come and get things cut back down, and then we would have a turnover or we force a shot. Central is the favorite, in my opinion, to win it all. They’re the team to beat in Single A.”
Trey Routt ended his Cameron career with a game-high 22 points and also surpassed the 1,000-point plateau. He cashed in on three 3-pointers to lead the way for the Dragons while Robert Miliken had a solid 10.
Wheeling Central and Madonna will face off Thursday at 7 p.m. The Blue Dons gave the Maroon Knights one of its two losses this season with it being in the championship game in the Undos/Main Street Holiday Tournament.
“The only good thing about it is the loser still gets a chance to go on,” Stephens said. “But our mentality is to try and win and get that home game. When we went up there and played in the second game, I thought we played really well. We executed what we wanted to do. That’s going to be a key on Thursday.”
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