Jan 21, 2025
DEFENDING — Weir’s Teddy Glyptis (20) guards Wheeling Central’s Eli Sancomb during Monday afternoon’s game. – Kim North
WHEELING — It’s often been said that it’s how you finish and not how you start. Wheeling Central did just the opposite Monday afternoon during the opener of the three-game MLK Classic at the Stifel Center on the Leatherwood campus of Linsly.
The Maroon Knights (9-1), ranked No. 1 in W.Va. Class AA, trailed Weir 2-0 before erupting for 23 of the next 25 points en route to a 26-8 lead after eight minutes. However, they cooled off considerably after that in posting a 62-25 victory.
“We played really well in the first quarter, then you flip it to the second, and it was a totally different story for whatever reasons,” veteran Wheeling Central head coach Mel Stephens said. “I told them at halftime that we need to be more consistent for four quarters. Today we got away with it, moving forward against some of the stiffer competition we’re going to face, if we have a quarter like the second, we’re probably in trouble.”
Eli Sancomb sparked the early outburst with 13 of his game-best 24 points as Wheeling Central put on a passing clinic. The Maroon Knights continually looked for the best shot available, sometimes passing up open looks. They recorded spurts of 14-0 and 9-0 in the period.
“They just punched us in the face. They’re a well-disciplined team. They know what they are doing and they listen,” Weir head coach Anthony Santangelo. “Eli Sancomb is the quarterback of that crew and they have a lot of good pieces around him.”
The next three quarters saw the designated hosts outscore the Red Riders (3-8) by a 36-17 margin, with the Hancock Countians never reaching double digits in a quarter while turning the ball over 20 times, with eight of those coming in the initial quarter and leading the multiple fast-break layups by the Maroon Knights.
Luke Sancomb netted seven of his nine points in the second quarter as Wheeling Central led 34-15 at the half. The Maroon Knights turned up the defensive pressure in the third quarter, something that Stephens said they will need to do down the stretch.
While Eli Sancomb was the only player with 10-or-more points, 6-7 Max Olejasz also scored nine points. Troy Anthony and Nico Kusic had six each.
Eli Sancomb completed a double-double with 11 of the Maroon Knights’ 40 rebounds. Olesjaz snagged 10 and Kusic half-a-dozen.
“Defensively, I thought we played really well. When you can hold a varsity boys’ basketball team to 25 points in a game, that’s pretty good,” Stephens praised. “We still left some plays out there, but I can live with that today. We’re only going to get better as the season goes.”
Da’mir Mowder and Evan Kaczmarek scored six points each for Weir. Justin Kaczmarek had six of the Red Riders’ 24 rebounds.
Weir doesn’t have time to dwell on the setback as it travels to Wintersville tonight to meet Indian Creek.
“We have to put this game behind us and focus on Indian Creek,” Santangelo said. “I told the guys that we need to learn from this game.”
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