Photo by Cody Nespor Wheeling Central’s Caleb Ratcliffe (24) scores a layup and draws a foul from Grafton’s Isaac Lough (10) during Wednesday’s WVSSAC Class AAA quarterfinal game.

By CODY NESPOR

Sports Writer

CHARLESTON — A 29-4 scoring run between the third and fourth quarters helped Wheeling Central overcome a 10-point second-half deficit and defeat Grafton 73-63 in the WVSSAC Class AAA quarterfinal round Wednesday night.

Central turned the ball over 11 times in the first half of play, which stymied the Maroon Knights’ offense and led to a 32-26 Grafton lead at halftime.

“Give credit to Grafton, they came out and played really well, especially in the first half,” said Central coach Mel Stephens. “They were really taking it to us a little bit. They weren’t doing anything we didn’t expect, we just didn’t execute our gameplan.”

Those turnovers led to Grafton runs of 15-4 and 9-2 that kept the Maroon Knights at bay in the first half.

Leading scorer Ryan Reasbeck shot just 2-6 in the first half, including 0-4 from 3-point range, and had just four points at the break. Sophomore Quinton Burlenski helped to pick up the slack, however, shooting a perfect 4-4 from the floor and 2-2 from three to score 10 first-half points.

“I trust every single guy on my team and they trust me,” Reasbeck said. “I have faith in every single one of these guys that they can go out there and make plays. On a night where I’m not hitting shots, I know each of our other teammates will pick each other up.”

A nine-point flurry at the start of the third quarter pushed the Bearcats’ lead to 41-31 but from there, Central took over. After trailing by 10, the Maroon Knights out-scored Grafton 29-4 over the next 10 minutes, spanning into the fourth quarter.

“We talked at halftime and basically said we’re going to need to win both quarters,” Stephens said. “We came out in the third quarter and cut that six-point (lead) down to two and then we came out in the fourth and got off to a really great start.”

Central cleaned up the turnovers, committing just six after halftime, and reversed their shooting woes to put the ball in the bucket at a better than 50% rate in both the third and fourth quarters.

“When you’re turning it over, you’re not even getting a chance to score so it’s important to value the basketball,” Stephens said.

“If you’re making shots, it doesn’t really matter what you’re doing. We did that very well in the whole second half.”

The Knights poured in 30 points in the final frame, hitting on 18-22 free throws, to secure the 73-63 victory.

“To put 30 up on a team like that in the fourth quarter, when the game’s still in doubt, it says a lot about these guys’ determination to not give up,” Stephens said.

Burlenski’s hot shooting continued after halftime as he scored a team-high 22 points on 8-10 shooting while going a perfect 5-5 from beyond the arch.

“I felt good going into (the game) and my teammates got me involved,” Burlenski said. “It felt like once I made my first few shots, the bucket got really big, so I kept shooting and it kept going in.”

Senior Michael Toepfer recorded a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds and Leyton Toepfer added 13. Reasbeck finished 0-8 on 3-pointers, but he found a way to contribute 14 points to the victory. Caleb Ratcliffe chipped in nine to round out the Knights’ scoring.

“If we can get four guys in double-figures, we feel pretty good about our chances,” Stephens said. “(Wednesday) we had 24 field goals and 18 assists, that’s when we’re really pretty good. If we can share the basketball like that and get everybody involved, we usually play pretty well.”

Reasbeck and Burlenski both led with five assists and Reasbeck pulled down seven boards.

Ryan Maier paced the Bearcats with 21 points but he shot just 3-11 on 3-pointers as Grafton lost its shooting stroke in the second half.

“They hit shots down the stretch and we just didn’t,” said Grafton coach Michael Johnson. “It’s easier when the ball’s going in the bucket, it just is. We just went cold from the field for whatever reason.”

Tanner Moats contributed 15 points and Kaden Delaney scored 11.

The win sets up a rematch of last year’s title game with Central facing No. 1 Shady Spring in the semifinal round Friday night.

“It’s something we looked forward to as soon as we saw the seeding,” Michael Toepfer said. “We’ve just got to execute, take care of business and hopefully move on to Saturday.”

“They’re very good, they’ve picked up right where they left off last year,” Stephens added about Shady Spring. “It’s all the same guys and they play the same way.”

Tip-off from the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. Friday night.