photo by: Nick Henthorn

Wheeling Central’s Eli Sancomb, left, and Luke Sancomb, right, compete on the basketball court for the Maroon Knights during a regular season home game against Linsly on Jan. 8, 2025 on Coach Skip Prosser Court.

WHEELING – Wheeling Central’s resident basketball-playing brothers, Eli and Luke Sancomb, have helped the Maroon Knights to a 13-2 record this year, and a spot in the upcoming OVAC 3A tournament. It’s been a great experience for the two to share on their team, even if playing together on the hardwood is hardly anything new for the pair.

The cliche goes that siblings on a sports team have a special chemistry by virtue of being related. That may be true, but if there’s any telepathic communication between Luke and Eli, it’s also because basketball has been a constant all their lives.

“Not because they’re brothers, I don’t think,” Wheeling Central head coach Mel Stephens said of the Sancomb’s on-court chemistry. “It’s more because their dad’s a coach and they’ve been playing in a gym since they were able to walk.

“They’re very hard-working kids, they put the time in, they’re very competitive, even against each other. They compete very hard against other people and also against each other when we go five-on-five. It’s kind of a neat situation because they bring a lot to the table as far as experience with the game of basketball to the other guys on the team.”

Danny Sancomb was the leading scorer in Division II as a senior at Wheeling University, and has had successful coaching stints at St. Mary’s Ryken in Maryland, at his alma mater Wheeling U, and where he currently coaches at Cal (Pa.).

No surprise, his sons have caught the basketball bug too.

“We shoot all the time, get a bunch of shots up every day, so when I’m passing [Luke] the ball I’m expecting him to make it,” Eli, a junior, said of Luke, a sophomore. “He shoots a ton every day, he gets probably 600-1,000 shots a day. It’s a lot of work ethic between me and him, a lot of bonding, we’re always with each other in the gym. Every time I’m on the floor with him, I’m very confident with him, and with all of my teammates.”

“We always work out together, played together all the time, we definitely have a good chemistry,” Luke said. “I know when he’s ready to play, he knows when I’m ready to play, and we both love to win.”

In the gym together constantly growing up, this year and next year may be the most the brothers have ever played together on one organized team.

“In AAU, I’m a year older than him so there was some separation, but he would definitely play up sometimes, which was great, it’s always fun playing with your brother,” Eli said.

“This is definitely the most we’ve played together on a team- but we’d get up every morning really early and get a bunch of shots up in the gym,” Luke said.

Eli stepped in as Wheeling Central’s top scoring option last year as a sophomore, though a hand injury forced him to miss some time. This year, he has stepped up his game even more, averaging 26.3 points, 10.3 rebounds and 5.3 assists. He set his school’s single-game scoring record this year with a 47-point effort against Linsly.

“He just brings that ability to lead our team,” Stephens said of Eli. “He can definitely score the ball but his value goes beyond that. He’s a decent rebounder, a really good passer. You look at the stats sometimes and you go ‘Man, he’s scoring a lot of points, he must’ve just taken a ton of shots,’ but when you look at his total statline, he’s almost always double figures in rebounds, a lot of times he gets close to double figures in assists. He does a lot more for our team than just scoring points.”

Luke is third on the team in scoring with 8.4 points per game, and is knocking down 3-pointers at a 44% clip, tops on the Knights for anyone with more than four attempts.

Coming up to the high school-level last year, Eli was glad to welcome his brother into the fold.

“It was very exciting,” Eli said of Luke joining the team. “He’s playing a lot now, he’s a big part of our team and he puts a ton of time into the gym so that’s expected.”

“We watch those guys when they’re coming up through grade school and he was a really good player along with Eli, so it wasn’t really surprising,” Stephens said of Luke’s success as a sophomore. “He probably surprises other people more than he surprises us, probably because of his size, he can be underestimated a little bit. But he’s a fierce competitor and he puts the time in the gym. He’s probably one of the better shooters on our team.”

The two are similar in their work ethic and history with the sport, and in the leadership qualities they can both exhibit.

“Eli may be at the forefront a little bit more just because he’s a bit older, but when Luke gets on the floor he kind’ve takes control a little bit too and tells guys when they’re supposed to be,” Stephens said.

There are differences too. Eli is listed at 6-4, Luke at 5-7. Luke is a righty, Eli is a lefty. They have faced different challenges- Eli had a knee injury his freshman year of high school, and Luke has had to establish himself despite often giving up height to his matchup on the court.

But despite any differences, or maybe because of them, each has the other’s admiration.

“Eli’s a very good player,” Luke said. “He worked extremely hard to overcome his ACL injury, that was a lot of ups and downs. He’s been working really hard and he’s made himself really good.”

“Yes, they do,” Eli said, when asked if opponents sometimes underestimate Luke. “But you can’t look at someone just as being small or big. If you can hoop, you can hoop.”

The differences extend to their personalities too.

“Eli’s a little bit more low-key,” Stephens said. “He’s a fierce competitor, but Luke is probably a little bit moreso when you get down to it.”

Two fierce competitors have made for some conflicts at one time or another, but it all comes back to brotherly love in the end.

“We fight sometimes but that’s part of being brothers,” Eli said. “We’re competitive and we’re very close.”

“I love playing with Eli,” Luke said. “He makes everyone on the floor better. Even though we fight all the time, we love playing with each other on the same team.”

Eli has played the part of big brother well, helping out not only Luke, but their youngest brother, fourth-grader Jack.

“All the time,” Luke said of learning from Eli. “He gives me great leadership, shows me the right way of doing things, sets an example, works extremely hard. He just wants me to keep pushing, getting better each day and he helps me get better every day by encouraging me and all my teammates. We also have a little brother and he always encourages him to do the right thing.”

The Maroon Knights as a whole have a feeling of brotherhood around them.

“We treat all our kids in our program just like family,” Stephens said. “It’s a tight-knit group and when you have brothers, it’s even a little bit more special.”

“Everyone on our team, it feels like we’re all brothers because we’re always with each other, and having fun with whatever we’re doing,” Eli said. “It’s a great group.”

“We are a great family,” Luke said. “We go out to eat all the time, we do a lot of stuff off the court but when we’re on the court it’s go time. Working out together, getting shots up in the mornings, it’s definitely a good thing to have chemistry with the guys and it shows when we play.”