PASSING — Catholic Central’s Carly Fayak looks to pass against Wheeling Central on Thursday. (Photo by Joe Catullo)

STEUBENVILLE — Kaylee Reinbeau and her Wheeling Central basketball mates had a night to remember Thursday inside Catholic Central’s Mickey Barber Gymnasium.

For starters, Reinbeau eclipsed the 1,000-point mark for her career midway through the first quarter. Then, she was one of three Maroon Knights scoring more than 20 points, as Penn Kurtz’ club earned a 72-57 victory in the Class 2A third-place game of the 12th-annual Wheeling Hospital OVAC Girls Basketball Tournament.

“She’s part of the first mother-daughter pair in school history to score 1,000 points, so we’re pretty excited about that,” Kurtz said when discussing Reinbeau’s milestone. “That’s a pretty neat little thing to have. Kaylee has worked really hard to reach that level, and we’re really happy for her.”

After finishing her Maroon Knight career, Kaylee’s mother (Jackie Ernest Reinbeau) went on to Wheeling Jesuit University, where she scored 1,681 points and was a two-time West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference first-teamer. She entered the Wheeling Jesuit Hall of Fame in 1995.

Wheeling Central, which entered the tournament as the fourth seed, used eight Ally Davidson points and seven from Reinbeau to grab a 20-15 lead after the opening period. The third-seeded hosts, however, rallied in the second and took the lead twice. Wheeling Central, thanks to numerous Crusader turnovers, went on a 13-0 late scoring run to and was up 39-27 at the intermission.

Kurtz’ squad stayed hot in the third, outscoring the Crusaders 25-9. Davidson connected twice from behind the arc during the quarter.

Jess Looman’s Crusaders continued to battle, however, and outscored their guests 21-8 during the final eight minutes. Points from Bella Oliver, Christine Dombrowski and Julia Zatta kept Central close.

“Any time you get a win it’s great, especially since we’ve been playing real inconsistent all season,” Kurtz said. “This is a tough place to play against a good team, and we were able to play a little better tonight.

“This game was kind of a composite of our season. During the first three quarters we played great. Then in the fourth quarter, we went back to the way we have been playing. Going forward, we just have to be consistent and we will be fine.”

Eden Gainer paced the Maroon Knight attack with 22 points, drilling three from behind the arc. Reinbeau and Davidson each had 21. Davidson connected four times from long distance.

Oliver led Central (11-9), losers of four straight, with 18 points. She also snared 15 rebounds to complete the double-double. Dombrowski had 16 points and Zatta 15.

Neither team shot well from the line. The Maroon Knights (10-9) finished 5 of 12, while Central hoisted 22 freebies, making just 12.

“There were spurts tonight when we played really well, especially in the second and fourth quarters,” Looman said. “Unfortunately, however, we dug ourselves too many holes and were unable to get out of them. That bad spurt just before the half really hurt us.

“Wheeling Central is a well-coached team and is much better than its record indicates. We knew we had to play solid fundamental basketball tonight in order to be successful, and that just didn’t happen often enough.”

The Maroon Knights will host Beallsville Monday, then visit Beaver Local on Thursday before beginning sectional tournament play. Central will celebrate senior night on Thursday when it entertains Big Red.

“We continue to do a lot of things wrong that we just shouldn’t be doing at this point in the season,” Looman said. “We missed so many shots in the paint and, again, had a bad, bad night at the line. Our goal right now will be to get mentally focused heading into the game with Big Red and our sectional tournament opener.”

GAME NOTES

¯ In the two-quarter preliminary, Wheeling Central posted a 19-10 victory. Alexis Mills had six for the winners, while Bri DeChristoper and Katie Zatta scored four apiece for the Crusaders.

Wheeling Central 72 Catholic Central 57

Wheeling Central 20-19-25-8 — 72

Catholic Central 15-12-9-21 — 57

WHEELING CENTRAL (10-9): Horan 2 0-1 4; Geyer 0 0-0 0; Gainer 9 1-3 22; Mills 0 0-0 0; Campbell 0 0-0 0; Davison 7 3-4 21; Gruber 0 0-0 0; Reinbeau 10 1-2 21; White 2 0-2 4. Totals 30, 5-12: 72.

CATHOLIC CENTRAL (11-9): K. Zatta 0 0-0 0; Harold 1 2-4 4; J. Zatta 5 4-6 15; Fayak 0 0-0 0; Dombrowski 7 2-5 16; Oliver 7 4-7 18; Olszewski 2 0-0 4. TOTALS: 22, 12-22: 57.

3-POINT GOALS: Wheeling Central 7 (Davidson 4; Gainer 3); Catholic Central 1 (J. Zatta).