Wheeling Central (21-2) is headed to Charleston following a convincing, 64-46, victory over visiting Ravenswood (18-6) in the Class AA, Region I championship game before a packed house around Coach Skip Prosser Court.

“I don’t know how many times this makes for us going to Charleston, but we’ve been there a few times,” Wheeling Central head coach Mel Stephens said. “We’ve been there several times now without getting a ring. That’s our goal.

“This team hadn’t won anything before this season. All of those banners in the rafters aren’t theirs,” he stressed. “Our goals were to win the OVAC (Class 3A) which was the first step. Now we get a chance to try and complete our mission.”

The Maroon Knights, who won for the ninth straight time and 15 in their last 16 outings and drew the No. 2 seed, will next play Tuesday inside the Charleston Civic Center Coliseum at 1 p.m. against No. 7 Ritchie County.

photo by: Kristin Mazgaj

Williamstown, which handed Wheeling Central its last loss, 56-55, on Feb. 1, is the top seed.

Following six deadlocks in the first quarter, Wheeling Central closed the initial eight minutes on a 903 run to turn a 13-all stalemate into a 22-16 lead. Junior Eli Sancomb gave the hosts the lead with a steal and layup to make it 15-13. After another Sancomb bucket, Troy Anthony banged a three from the right corner and Nico Kusic scored off a Sancomb assist.

However, the Red Devils reeled off the first six points of the second quarter to draw even at 22, but a 19-4 run by the Maroon Knights pushed the margin out to 41-24 at the half. Five different players scored in the quarter as Sancomb led the way with six. Kusic and 6-7 junior Max Olejasz had four each, with several of those four baskets coming off nifty assists by Sancomb.

The lead ballooned to 21, 47-26, before Ravenswood would get on the scoreboard in the third quarter. The margin would get as high as 24, 55-31, before the quarter came to a close as Olejasz netted eight of his 18 points in the third.

“Our goal before the game was to win the last four minutes of the second quarter and the first four minutes of the third quarter,” Stephens pointed out. “I thought we did that.”

The Maroon Knights defensive pressure was also a key factor in extending the lead in the middle two quarters.

“Our pressure has affected teams all season, and it did again tonight,” Stephens said. Four of the Red Devils turnovers came at the end of the second quarter when the Maroon Knights made their move.

Ravenswood scored the final six points of the third quarter and the first five of the fourth to pull to within 13 at 55-42 with six minutes remaining, but Wheeling Central answered the bell with a game-ending 7-4 surge.

“That’s what good teams do,” Stephens said. “They have to be able to handle the runs by the opposition. We did that tonight.”

Sancomb stuffed the stat sheet with a game-high 22 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists and half-a-dozen steals.

“He’s pretty good,” Stephens allowed. In addition to Olejasz’s 18, Kusic was the other Maroon Knight in double digits with 10. Anthony added seven.

Evan Swain, a 6-7 senior, led the Red Devils with 16 points, one more than Noah Dawson. Swain also pulled down a game-best 14 rebounds.

Wheeling Central turned the ball over just three times, nine less than Ravenswood. The Red Devils led, 25-23, off the glass. The Maroon Knights shot 58 percent (29-50) from the floor.

Of its 29 field goals, 14 came off of assists as Wheeling Central passed the ball with a lot of unselfishness.

“We’ve been telling them all season that if we can get the ball into the paint, good things are going to happen, especially when they try to double Eli. That leaves Max and Nico open for good shots.”

The duo combined to make 14 of 18 shots, with all of them coming in the lane.