Red Knights fight back, fall to Wheeling Central in OVAC final
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ST. CLAIRSVILLE -- Winning OVAC titles has been a staple at Wheeling Central.
Saturday's 63-53 victory against Toronto at Ohio University Eastern in the Class 2A championship was the school's seventh-straight.
The real story was how the Maroon Knights did it and just how far this team has matured.
Wheeling Central (17-4) was dominant from the opening tipoff, racing out to an 18-3 advantage after one quarter against a talented Toronto squad.
But, the Red Knights didn't go away. They chipped at the lead, made big runs and put the Maroon Knights on their heels.
When Toronto (19-2) had the deficit cut to one early in the fourth, the Maroon Knights didn't panic. They stuck together and made play after play down the stretch.
"We just have a bunch of kids that are willing to do whatever it takes," Wheeling Central coach Mel Stephens said. "It doesn't matter who get the points. They just want to be successful. They feed off each other.
"I thought Ryan (Reasbeck) made some big shots. Anthony (Robbins) made a big difference. We knew coming in that Toronto was a very tough team, well-coached and they have come from behind a lot this year. I kept telling the kids that it doesn't matter what kind of lead we had, (Toronto) was going to come back and make a run. They did, and we never relinquished that lead."
Wheeling Central, which won its 27th OVAC boys basketball title in school history, never trailed. The Maroon Knights scored the final 14 points of the first quarter and looked to be in cruise control.
However, Toronto was the No. 1 seed for a reason. Led by Nate Karaffa, the Red Knights cut the deficit to 10 at halftime and, following Karaffa's buzzer-beating layup at the end of the third quarter, Toronto was down three at 47-44.
After nearly three scoreless minutes to open the fourth, Toronto was able to get within one twice at 47-46 and 49-48.
With four minutes remaining, Wheeling Central's Bray Price made arguably the play of the game. After teammate J.C. Maxwell missed a 3-pointer, Price hustled to snare the long rebound and dribbled out past the 3-point line.
With an open look, the senior leader drained the shot to put Wheeling Central up 52-48.
After a missed Toronto shot, Reasbeck hit a basket on the other end. On the ensuing Toronto possession, Robbins got a good break on a pass, took it the distance for a layup while also getting fouled. He hit his free throw for a three-point play, the icing on a crucial 8-0 run that helped to ensure another OVAC trophy would be joining the Wheeling Central trophy case.
"(Price's play) was huge," Stephens said. "You can look back on a lot of big plays. Anthony's steal got us a basket. J.C. got a steal on an inbounds play. Free throws, I tell them all the time you have to make free throws, and Ryan was the guy at the line (4 of 6 in the fourth)."
Reasbeck led a balanced Wheeling Central effort with 18 points. Price scored 11, while Robbins and Clayton Abate each scored 10. Robbins earned the John Howell Most Valuable Player Award.
"This means everything to us, especially to me because I am a senior," Robbins said. "Me and Bray and Dom (Mills) for us to win out like this. We want to keep this going and make the younger kids have to work hard to come back and win this.
"We were getting nervous in the fourth, but we calmed down. (On the steal), I saw (Karaffa) look out of the corner of his eye, and I cheated over. I went for it, and that was it."
Karaffa had a stellar game, leading all scorers with 22 points, 18 coming during the middle quarters to get the Red Knights out of their hole. Trillion West added 10.
"We came out and played very slow," Toronto coach Sean Tucker said. "We were very prepared for the game, but we just weren't ourselves in the first quarter. When you play against Wheeling Central, as good as they are, you can't come out that slow.
"We didn't attack the glass the way we worked on, and give (Wheeling Central) credit. We have been a team all year that has won the rebounding war, and we didn't (Saturday) and it showed. The game didn't come down to the second half, it came down to the first quarter. Scoring three points, with the team we have, just can't happen.
"This was a good taste for what we need to do in the state tournament. I think our guys are going to be even hungrier to come and play. We have resilient guys, and we are proud of them and there is a lot to be proud of."
Wheeling Central 63, Toronto 53
Wheeling Central 18-18-11-16 -- 63
Toronto 3-23-18-9 -- 53
WHEELING CENTRAL: Price 4-7 0-0 11; Reasbeck 5-14 6-8 18; Maxwell 3-8 3-4; Robbins 4-5 2-2 10; Creighton 1-5 0-0 3; Lee 0-2 0-0 0; Saunders 1-1 0-0 2. TOTALS: 23, 11-16: 63.
TORONTO: West 3-12 2-4 10; Karaffa 10-15 2-2 22; Gulczynski 2-10 0-0 4; Clegg 3-9 2-2 8; Sninchak 2-5 0-0 5; Matyas 1-2 2-2 4; Wright 0-1 0-0 0. TOTALS: 21, 8-10: 53.
3-POINT GOALS: Price 3, Reasbeck 2, Creighton; West 2, Sninchak.