Central Preparing For Tough Road In State Tournament—Starting With A Tough Rematch
Nick Henthorn CHARLESTON - W.Va. Class AA Region I rivals - No. 4 Wheeling Central Catholic and No. 5 Williamstown - will renew their series for the second time in two weeks when they meet in the final W.Va. Class AA state tournament quarterfinal on Thursday at 9 p.m. inside the Charleston Civic Center Coliseum.
The Maroon Knight (19-5) outlasted the Yellowjackets (21-3) by a 71-65 margin in double overtime on February 22 on Coach Skip Prosser Court in a regional semifinal in East Wheeling.
Wheeling Central led Class AA teams entered in the tournament in points per game at 69.3. Williamstown is a close second at 69.2.
"This is the toughest draw of the tournament. For either one of us to win the state championship, it is going to be a tough road," veteran Wheeling Central head coach Mel Stephens admitted. "We just played Williamstown at our place two weeks ago and beat them in two overtimes. It was a great game.
"If we are fortunate enough to win Thursday, then we get No. 1 Bluefield on Friday in the semifinals, so it certainly won't be easy, but we're going down there with the mindset of playing three games and winning them all."
The Beavers eliminated the Maroon Knights last year, something that motivated them to make a return appearance.
"We've been fortunate enough to have a pretty good nucleus coming back year to year. Once you've gotten there, those guys want to come back," Stephens said of reaching the state tournament. "Especially if you don't win it, you want to get back and try to get that championship.
"Having everybody back from last year is an odd situation. That's a first for us," Stephens added. "All the kids got to experience that last year. We didn't play well in the first game and got bumped out. That was kind of the fuel that drove this group to try and get back down there."
Wheeling Central is making its 18th appearance in the last 19 seasons - not counting the COVID year of 2019 - as 2011 was the only time they haven't headed south in mid-March. They have won 12 state titles in program history, with Stephens assisting on two under then-head coach Dave Wojcik and having six of his own. The last title came in 2018.
The 2024 season marked the debut of sophomore Eli Sancomb. The lefty and son of former Wheeling Jesuit All-American and current head coach at Cal, Pa. Danny Sancomb, missed his freshman season due to a knee injury suffered in football. He began his career this season like fireworks, but then got hurt again in January.
"By having everyone back, the guys were excited to have Eli return this year," Stephens noted. "Then, when he went down with the broken wrist, they kind of rallied around the idea that they made it to Charleston without him last year, why couldn't they do it again this year.
"We did okay. We'll get through it somehow. We have so far," Stephens said of the injury. "We told the kids that one guy was not going to replace Eli. It is going to take a team effort with everyone stepping up when needed or called upon. We've got contributions from a lot of guys throughout the season. They have kind of picked up the slack when he was out."
Stephens, without divulging any breaking news, reported that Sancomb is listed as day-to-day.
"He just got the cast off yesterday (Monday). We're trying to rehab him a little bit at a time. It's such a quick turnaround from getting the cast off on Monday and our first game being on Thursday. He did fairly decent Monday for just having the cast off. He said he had no pain after practicing Monday, so we'll see how that goes.
"When it happened (in January at Parkersburg South) we planned on him being out for the season, but now that he has the cast off we're going to see how things work out."
Stephens said if Sancomb can't play, he will be the biggest cheerleader the Maroon Knights have.
"He's such a great kid and teammate. He was at practice every day last year knowing that he wasn't going to play, and this year he has been there every day since he got injured. There may be a little bit of a rallying around him, but I just think the kids, individually, want to get back down there and atone for the way they played last year."
When asked about the 9 p.m. start, Stephens said his staff has a plan.
"We practiced late Monday night and we are practicing late Wednesday night. I don't think a 9 p.m. game is a big deal. It's the early games (9:30 a.m.) that are hard to prepare for. We are going down on the day of the game. It makes it a little more normal for the kids," he explained. "They get up and go to school for half-a-day. They get out, we bus down and get them checked into the hotel. That still gives us a couple of hours before we play, rather than going down the day before and sitting around the 12 hours."
The ultra successful Maroon Knights head coach talked about each player that has played a role in where the team is this week.
"Eli Dean has really stepped up. He started some last year, but has been coming off the bench to give us a spark. Quinton probably had better stats last year, but I think he is a better player this year because he has sacrificed some scoring to get everybody involved and make us a better team, especially with the emergence of Eli (Sancomb). I think he took a load off of Quinton.
"Jeremy Ratcliffe, Troy Anthony and Tyler Dean have all stepped up and have taken turns, so to say, every night it seems like. Max Olejasz has definitely improved from last year. I think a lot of people forget that he is just a sophomore and still learning but he is getting better and better each game. He has probably averaged a double-double the last couple of months. He's also played good defense."
Stephens collected his 400th career victory in the Maroon Knights' regional win over Ritchie County. Wheeling Central owns victories over tournament entrants No. 2 Charleston Catholic and No. 7 Trinity.
Sancomb leads the team in scoring (19.2), although he missed most of the second half of the season due to the injury. Burlenski averages 10.8 points per game while Olejasz chips in with 10.3 points per game. Williamstown is just three years removed from winning the Class AA state championship under head coach Scott Sauro. The Yellowjackets have defeated a trio of state tournament qualifiers in Ravenswood, Logan and Webster County (in the Little Kanawha Conference Championship game).
Junior guard Parker Schramm leads Williamstown in scoring at 18.6 points per game. Fellow junior Jayden Bryant adds 15.6 points per contest.
Other teams in the tournament are No. 1 Bluefield (19-5), No. 2 Charleston Catholic (21-4), No. 3 Chapmanville (18-6), No. 6 Ravenswood (19-5), No. 7 Trinity (12-10) and No. 8 Braxton County (11-13).