Wheeling Central capped off an undefeated 23-0 campaign with a WVSSAC Class AA state championship on Saturday, getting to the mountaintop in back-to-back fashion with a 55-39 victory over Wyoming East inside a packed Charleston Coliseum.

“Wyoming East, very well coached, very good basketball team,” Wheeling Central head coach Mel Stephens said. “We felt like we had a good game plan coming in. First half, offensively, I don’t think we played as well as we could. But defensively, gave up 23 points. I told them at halftime, you know, I thought that was a really good job defensively, and if we were able to duplicate that in the second half, we should have a pretty good chance to win. These guys came out and went above and beyond in their effort and only gave up 16 in the second half. I thought once we got a little bit of a lead and we spread the floor a little bit, you know, Eli [Sancomb]’s a tough guard and they have to send people when to get the ball out of his hands. But I thought the guys that got the ball made really good decisions.”

Though the Maroon Knights and Warriors kept it close throughout, Wheeling Central never trailed in the second half of Saturday’s title bout, Central’s Eli Sancomb leading the way with 21 points, 11 rebounds and four assists in the final outing of the reigning Evans Award winner’s career.

After the game, Sancomb spread the credit around.

“They did a pretty good job on me today, but I had a bunch of belief in my teammates and trust in my teammates,” Sancomb, who was announced as this year’s W.Va. Gatorade Player of the Year on Friday, said. “You know, they’ve been by my side all year, so I knew coming in, if I messed up, they had my back.

“Nico [Kusic] hit some shots some big shots. Steve [Brodegard] played unbelievable today. You know, Max [Olejasz] and Luke [Sancomb] did their thing, and that’s why we won the game today.”

Wheeling Central led 15-13 after the first quarter, seizing the lead after Luke Sancomb hit a heavily contested catch-and-shoot 3-pointer with two seconds left in the opening period.

Central’s lead was one at halftime, 24-23. Steven Brodegard provided key scores for the Maroon Knights in the first half, scoring eight points on 4-4 shooting. Brodegard’s free throw-line jump shot with 5:06 in the second quarter gave Central a 19-16 lead and prompted a timeout from Wyoming East.

Brodegard and his matchup, Wyoming East’s Konnor Fox, did not play much in the first half as the Warriors tried to spread out on offense to limit Brodegard’s impact on defense.

“If you looked at when we were really struggling offensively, Brodegard really just wasn’t– when we were trying to move him around, Brodegard was really clogging the lane, so these guys couldn’t get any lane access. So we went with Braedy [Johnston] to try to stretch the floor. Pretty much what they were doing— they were just matching. When we put Braedy out, they put Riley [Taylor] in.

So we felt better with that floor open to get these guys an opportunity to get down the lane, just because at that point we needed to score. Konnor at the beginning of the game was really rebounding the basketball well, and he did a great job, but we just valued at that point stretching the floor out. We made that decision, maybe we should have made it earlier, but that’s what that was, to try to get Brodegard out of the lane.”

Central shot 10-26 in the first half; East shot 9-26.

The Maroon lead had increased to 10 by the end of the third quarter, 38-28, as Central’s defense held Wyoming east to 2-11 shooting in the quarter.

“It’s the story of probably the last two years,” Wyoming East head coach Kent McBride said. “Last year was the same way. We played Williamstown, I think we were up one or two, went into halftime. Today we were down one, went into halftime. And the third quarter offensively, we struggled. I need to do some self-evaluation on that of what we’re not doing to get our guys in better positions.

“Going in, we had scouted Wheeling Central pretty heavily. And if you look back to last year’s game, Against Williamstown, Williamstown was up with about a minute and a half to go in the third quarter, and I thought Williamstown had seven straight really hard shots, and Wheeling Central makes you take hard shots. When they did that and they turned them into points and it went from 1 to 12, we watched that as a unit. And I think that’s what happened in the third quarter. We just, we struggled offensively to put the ball in a hole, and that led to them making that run. I don’t think it was the defense, I think it was our offense, and that falls on me.”

Down 12 points with a few minutes to go, Wyoming East tried to send Central’s Luke Sancomb to the line, but the junior went 4-4 from the foul line to salt away the championship win.

“The last couple weeks, me and Eli, when we shoot foul shots, we, like, scream and yell in each other’s faces,” Luke Sancomb said. “So, I knew I was ready for that moment. I felt fine.”

Wheeling Central had won consecutive titles on two separate occasions prior– 2008 and 2009, and 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005– all years where the Knights competed in Class A.

Saturday was the Maroon Knight’s 14th state title in program history. This year was their first undefeated season since 1963.

“Yeah, ’63 team went undefeated, they were 23-0,” Stephens said. “You know, it’s kind of weird, 63 years later we’re 23-0 and winn a state championship.

“I think people realize that it’s hard to go undefeated. I mean, we played 23 games this year, we played some very good teams. To be able to get through there without a loss is incredible. I think it just comes down to this team, their competitiveness to want to win everything we do. It shows in games, but, if you’re at some of our practices, I mean, there’s some pretty competitive stuff that goes on just between these guys to try to win. I think it’s just a testament to especially the three seniors, but, that stuff, that competitiveness and willingness to work hard to be the best you can, that filters down to those other guys.”

Central’s Luke Sancomb and Max Olejasz each scored 10 points, Olejasz also grabbing six rebounds in the final game of the 6-7 senior’s Wheeling Central career. Brodegard, another senior, finished with three blocks to go with his eight points. Junior Nico Kusic scored six points with four rebounds and four assists.

Wheeling Central outrebounded Wyoming East 32-28 and shot 46.7% against the Warriors’ 32 percent.

Wyoming East was led by Keegan Davidson’s 16 points.

Luke Sancomb, Max Olejasz and Eli Sancomb made the Class AA All-Tournament team after the game. Eli Sancomb was additionally honored as the Class AA Tournament MVP.

Eli Sancomb, Olejasz and Brodegard depart from the team as two-time champions.

“Eli, man, me and him have been playing forever,” Luke Sancomb said of playing with his brother. “I’m going to miss playing with him for sure. But, man, he gives me some great looks, just his leadership towards me growing up— the best. I’m really going to miss playing with them. And for next year, these guys, we know what’s coming. We’re going to get in the gym here soon and just get back to work, the grind. Nothing’s given to you, but we’re going to go out there and try to get it done again, for sure.”

Sancomb will be a part of the basketball program at Liberty next year, while Brodegard will join the baseball program at Mercyhurst.

“First and foremost, I’m so grateful to be part of this,” Eli Sancomb said. “You know, assistant coaches, they don’t get much recognition. But those guys have worked so hard every single year that I’ve been here. My freshman year I got hurt and those guys had so much belief in me. Like, I haven’t even done anything yet and they just had so much belief and trust in me that I could do it. And, you know, we did it two years back-to-back.

“I just want to be remembered, off the floor, just as a good person, treat others with respect, how I want to be treated. These guys behind me, I have so much love for them and respect for them and all the fans and everybody that came down and supported us. Just so grateful for this opportunity and just getting ready for the next.”