Young Wheeling Central Boys Going Through Growing Pains
Maroon Knights Fall To 0-2 With 49-38 Loss To Fort Frye
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WHEELING - With only one returning starter back in the fold, Wheeling Central is going to go through some growing pains during the early portion of the 2022-23 boys' high school basketball season.
Tuesday night was one of those moments.
The Maroon Knights (0-2) just couldn't get the job done against visiting Fort Frye as Clayton Miller scored a game-high 19 points and Zaiden Huck knocked down some big foul shots down the stretch in a 49-38 Cadets' victory in East Wheeling.
"Our goal defensively is to hold teams under 50, and we did that. However, we struggled offensively and part of that credit goes to Fort Frye because they are well-coached fundamentally," veteran Wheeling Central head coach Mel Stephens said. "We struggled to make shots, even the little ones, and all the 50/50 balls went to them."
The one that was clear in Stephens' mind came as the clock was running out in the third quarter.
"There's a loose ball and one of their player's picks it up and banks it in just before the buzzer," he recalled. "That's the way things have been going in the first two games for us. We're just going to have to turn it around and get back to what we've been trying to do.
"I thought we had a good game plan going in. We held them to 21 (points) in the first half, and I thought that was pretty good."
The hosts led 8-6 after a sluggish first quarter in which neither team could find its shooting touch.
Fort Frye shot 60 percent in the second quarter in which it pulled away for a 21-15 halftime margin. Wheeling Central sliced the deficit to 30-28 entering the fourth quarter, but some costly turnovers allowed the Cadets to slowly, but surely, pull away.
The score was 43-38 in favor of Fort Frye, but the Cadets went on a 6-0 run to end the contest. Huck tickled the twine six times down the stretch and finished with nine points, as did teammate Zach Huffman.
Quentin Burlenski paced Wheeling Central with 14 points and seven rebounds. Troy Anthony, who knocked down back-to-back treys to start the game, added 10.
The Maroon Knights had 13 turnovers, two more than the Cadets.