Mar 20, 2025
photo by: Jay Morris
Wheeling Central’s Eli Sancomb dribbles on the wing during the Maroon Knights’ WVSSAC Class AA state quarterfinals Tuesday against No. 7 Ritchie County, an 80-27 Knights victory.
CHARLESTON – Thursday was a good day for the Wheeling Central Maroon Knights.
While the Knights were battling the WestSide Renegades in their Class AA state semifinal, the news broke that Central’s Eli Sancomb was named the W.Va. Gatorade Player of the Year.
The junior justified the selection, helpling Wheeling Central pull away with a big second quarter and top the Renegades, 57-38 inside the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center to advance to the Class AA title game on Saturday.
Wheeling Central head coach Mel Stepehens announced the news to his team on the bus ride to the Coliseum on Thursday, and after the game, the longtime head coach drew attention to Sancomb’s work off the court, not just on it.
“The process they do, it’s not just what you do on the court, it’s what you do in the community and the extracurricular stuff. He’s just an excellent young man, comes from a great family, they’re all about the community part of it. I’m pretty sure that helped his case along with his ability on the basketball court.”
Sancomb has volunteered locally as one of the founding members of the St. Vincent de Paul Mattress Movers, a group of six boys who deliver new mattresses to those in need. He’s also donated his time as a “buddy” for athletes with special needs through the YMCA, in addition to participating in the Central Catholic High School canned food drive, picking up donations and delivering bags of food.
“It means a lot,” Sancomb said of winning the award. “A lot of hard work in the gym. It was one of my goals going into high school, winning Gatorade Player of the Year. But the main goal is winning the state championship.”
“I have a lot of motivation this year. My freshman year I was hurt all year, couldn’t play. Last year I had a broken wrist which made things difficult. This year I’ve been fully healthy and ready to go. That’s a big part of it, just staying healthy and being out on the court with my teammates.”
Final score aside, Wheeling Central won several categories Thursday- outrebounding their opponents 34-24, and winning the turnover battle 11-6.
“It just really comes down to following the game plan on the defensive end,” Stephens said. “We know they’re gonna make some shots, we just wanna make it tough on them and we really stress the defensive rebounding part. Teams are gonna hit shots.
“You gotta make it tough by contesting those shots and then have to finish those possessions out with rebounds and I thought we did that really well. We had talked going into the game about how our big guys had to get box outs and then our guards had to come back and help, which they did.”
Sancomb scored 24 points on 58% shooting, grabbed 15 rebounds and dished three assists for his second strong state tournament outing.
“He rebounded the ball, got a few assists- he does what we need him to do to win, no matter what it is,” Stephens said of Sancomb.
Fellow junior Max Olejasz also turned in a big performance with 20 points and nine rebounds, shooting nearly 70% from the field.
“Today was Max, Tuesday was Tyler Dean,” Stephens said. “We talk about that all the time- Eli is going to get his, it’s those other guys who step up, and usually its somebody different that steps up and contributes the points. All those guys do things that may go unnoticed, get rebounds, get loose balls, all that stuff helps us win.”
Wheeling Central shot 45% from the field as a team, while holding WestSide to 34% shooting.
Bradyn Waldron led WestSide with 12 points while teammate Kaiden Vance had 11.
Wheeling Central started the game off on a 10-2 run as Olejasz tallied six, but the Renegades made their own run at the end of the quarter, scoring the final seven to trim the Central lead to three points, 16-13 at the end of the first.
The middle quarters made all the difference for Wheeling Central, who went on an 8-0 run late in the second quarter to turn a four-point lead into a double-digit halftime advantage, 38-26. Olejasz and Sancomb each had 3-point plays in the scoring run.
The lead grew to as much as 15 points in the third quarter on a 3-pointer from Eli Sancomb with 3:04 left, and Central entered the fourth quarter ahead 49-36.
The Renegades did not register a field goal in the fourth quarter, going 0-10, a sluggish frame that the Maroon won 8-2.
“I saw some of their kids walk down and put their head down,” Olejasz said. “I walked over to our trainer and was like ‘They quit.’ So I knew our defense was getting to them. I knew their- all hope was lost.”
With the victory, Wheeling Central will face the winner of No. 1 Williamstown vs. No. 4 Wyoming East in the Saturday 10 a.m. championship.
Wheeling Central has not faced Wyoming East this season. They lost by one point on the road vs. Williamstown, 56-55 on Feb. 1.
“It never gets old, really,” Stephens said of the tournament. “The neat thing about high school is you’ve always got different guys, you very seldom have the whole crew coming back. So for the guys who have been here before, they know what it’s like, but I always get excited for those guys who it’s their first time. It’s something they’ll get to remember forever.”
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