With the win, Wheeling Central repeats as OVAC 3A champions, having defeated Monroe Central in last year’s title game as well.

“We thought we had a good game plan coming in,” Wheeling Central head coach Mel Stephens said after the game. “We took what we didn’t do so well the first two times we played them, and tried to take advantage of the situations we thought we could take advantage of. The kids came out really focused and really executed the game plan well. Once we got that big lead, then it was pretty much just a matter of playing even with them the rest of the way.”

Wheeling Central’s Eli Sancomb earned the John Howell Memorial Most Valuable Player Award for the game, pouring in a game-high 28 points.

“He’s just such a special player,” Stephens said of Sancomb, the reigning Evans Award winner in West Virginia. “I mean he’s very good on his own, but he makes other guys better. I mean, how many times today did he find Max or Steven or Nico and give them the opportunity to give some easy baskets.”

After leading 18-12 after the first quarter of play, Wheeling Central built their lead in the second frame, with Luke Sancomb and Max Olejasz each hitting two 3-pointers to help send Central into the locker rooms ahead 39-18.

Monroe Central had some good looks from the perimeter in the second quarter, but couldn’t find the bottom of the bucket as their offense hit a lull heading into halftime.

“It gets really hard when you’re not making shots to stay focused,” Monroe Central head coach Mason Lang said. “I felt like as we continued to miss and miss, we lost focus on the other end. They continued to knock down shots and kind of extend that lead. I thought we showed some signs of life there in the second half to try to make a push, but that’s a really good team, really good players and they came out and they won this game tonight, and deservingly so.”

Monroe Central’s Caedyn Silva exploded in the third quarter for 15 of his team-high 22 points, hitting three 3’s in the quarter, but the Seminoles still trailed 63-38 heading into the final period.

“You know, in the championship games like this, it comes down to who’s role players play the best,” Lang said. “I feel like Wheeling Central’s role players really stepped up tonight and made some big time shots for them to get them out in front early and then they were able to continue to build off that momentum.”

Max Olejasz scored 18 for the Maroon, the senior’s scoring coming in handy early. 13 of Olejasz’ points came in the first half.

“Max shot the ball really well from the perimeter, which he can do,” Stephens said. “You know, in the past, he’s always been a post for us because he was the biggest guy we had. This year we had a little bit more size to go with him so that enabled him to get out on the perimeter a little bit and show his skill out there.”

Nico Kusic and Luke Sancomb each scored nine for the Maroon. Steven Brodegard had eight points and 10 rebounds.

Cooper Howell scored 10 for Monroe Central while Corbin Farnsworth had eight.

As the regular season winds down for the Maroon Knights and Seminoles, the two teams– both defending state champions in their respective states– will now look towards the postseason.

“This is always one of our goals, to try to get into this game, try to win a championship here,” Stephens said. “Now we’ll kind of refocus and start getting ready for tournament time in West Virginia.”