Wheeling Central uses size, speed to top Trinity Christian 77-47
Dec. 13—MORGANTOWN — Wheeling Central Catholic was simply too big, too fast and too physical to stop as the Maroon Knights rolled over Trinity Christian 77-47 high on the hill in Sabraton Tuesday evening.
Wheeling Central's high-pressure defense, transition offense and superior size at nearly every position was a combination the Warriors (2-1) struggled to deal with all game long.
"That's what we're trying to do, " WCC coach Mel Stephens said. "We're trying to get the ball off the boards and get it going to the other end. We've got some kids that can run, we've got some kids that can pass and we've got some kids that can score, so we definitely want it up and down."
Trinity had a tough blow early when starting forward Ben Lohmann rolled an ankle and sat out for the majority of the first half.
"You never want to lose a player, but to lose a big piece and the glue like Ben, it's kind of obvious, " Trinity coach Codey Horton said.
The Maroon Knights (2-0) had a 10-0 run in the first quarter and a 17-0 run in the second to lead 47-22 at halftime. Most of Wheeling Central's points came either in transition or in the post.
"Their transition was really good and we weren't getting back on defense, " Horton said. "They got probably 16 points off that. We knew that they were going to do that, we just didn't execute it.
"We loved our effort, but we were disappointed with our physicality. We don't want to be a doormat and that's what happened a lot of times."
Sophomore forward Eli Sancomb scored 22 of his game-high 28 points for Wheeling Central in the first half. Sancomb, who missed last year with an injury, was playing in just his second high school game after scoring 27 against Magnolia last week.
"He's a basketball player, " Stephens said. "He played football last year and he's a decent football player, but I think his ticket is definitely in basketball ...He worked tirelessly through the summer when he still wasn't able to play. He basically just got cleared a couple weeks before the season started. He's kind of trying to make up for lost time."
Max Olejasz finished second for the Maroon Knights with 10 points while Troy Anthony had nine and Quinton Burlenski had seven.
Chayce Adams led Trinity with 13 points with a trio of three-pointers. Carter Hatsock was second with 12 points.
The Warriors face another Class AA state tournament team in their next game, taking on Charleston Catholic Friday at West Virginia State University.
"We knew this one was going to be a tough one and we know Friday's going to be a tough one, " Horton said. "But if you go to states, you're going to see these two high-caliber teams."
Wheeling Central 77, Trinity Christian 47 WCC 24 23 15 12—77 TCS 14 8 7 18—47 WHEELING CENTRAL (2-0)—E. Sancomb 12 4-4 28 ; Burlenski 3 0-0 7 ; Anthony 4 0-0 9 ; Ratcliffe 1 0-0 2 ; Olejasz 5 0-0 10 ; E. Dean 2 0-0 4 ; Schmitt 3 0-0 6 ; T. Dean 1 0-0 2 ; Giannangeli 0 2-2 2 ; Billick 0 0-0 0 ; Kusic 1 0-0 2 ; Griffin 0 0-0 0 ; L. Sancomb 1 1-1 3.
TRINITY CHRISTIAN (2-1)—Lohmann 3 0-0 6 ; L. Kniska 1 2-2 4 ; Hopkins 1 1-3 4 ; Adams 4 2-2 13 ; Hartsock 4 3-4 12 ; M. Kniska 1 0-0 3 ; Porta 2 0-0 5 ; Steptoe 0 0-0 0 ; Sheffstall 0 0-0 0 ; R. Parker 0 0-0 0.
3-Pt. Goals—Wheeling Central 2 (Belinski 1, Anthony 1). Trinity Christian 7 (Adams 3, Hopkins 1, Hartsock 1, Porta 1, M. Kiniska 1).
