Maroon Knights pull away from Weir
WEIRTON -- The Wheeling Central girls' basketball team ran past Weir.
The Maroon Knights turned a four-point advantage into a 22-point lead in the fourth en route to defeating the Red Riders, 64-46, Thursday night on Ron "Fritz" Williams Court inside the Carl Hamill Fieldhouse.
"They out-hustled us," Weir (7-7) head coach Rick Stead said. "I think they wanted to win more badly than we did. We had a golden opportunity to get a win. They have a couple of girls who are hurt. We were unable to capitalize on their changed lineup.
"They beat us earlier in the season. It was a similar game. It was a four or five point game in the third quarter, and then they pulled away.
"They ran us tonight. We would release a shot, and they would have girls sprinting down the floor. They would have two or three steps on us, and they were able to score in transition.
"I'm frustrated. We forced bad passes. I hate to see how many turnovers we had.
"We had our chance. This was a big game. We were the No. 2 seed in the OVACs. I don't know if we are anymore. We have a big game against Dover on Saturday.
"They had a freshman handling the ball. They had two injured players.
"The Blake girl played really well. She must have had a magnet on the ball. She couldn't miss. She's a solid player. She played hard. She could not miss."
Bella Fitzsimmons and Kaitlyn Blake combined to score 48 points for the Maroon Knights. Fitzsimmons finished with a game-high 25 points, while Blake collected 23. At one point in the third, Blake had scored more than half of her team's points.
The visitors from Ohio County outscored the hosts, 37-23, in the second half.
"We went into the locker room at halftime, and we talked to them about running," Wheeling Central (11-4) head coach Roberta Olejasz said. "With our defense, we talked about running. We talked about running, and we went out and ran.
"We ran, and the ball did not hit the floor first. We ran, we turned, looked up and threw it down the court.
"They were getting up close on us in the half court, and we had some turnovers in the first half. Our defense picked up in the second half. The girls played with a little more intensity on defense.
"Weir is a good team. They have got some athletes. They can shoot from the outside and on the inside. They have some good players."
The girls in maroon outscored the girls in white, 22-10, in the third to take a 49-33 lead into the fourth. The visitors tallied two three-point plays and a pair of 3-pointers in the quarter on their way to breaking the game open.
The victors built a 57-35 lead in the fourth. The hosts cut their deficit down to 59-46, but they were unable to get any closer.
"We tried different defenses tonight," Stead said. "We played man, and then we switched to a 1-3-1. They were able to get the ball out and score in transition.
"We forced things. We play our best when we move the ball around and we get other people involved."
Rayna Hoover recorded a team-high 16 points to lead the way for the Red-and-Black, while Olivia Baker and Janai Turner each contributed nine.
Led by Blake, Wheeling Central led 16-10 at the end of the first. The transfer from John Marshall tallied 10 points in the quarter to lead the way.
"They outhustled us," Stead said. "Roberta does a good job. We did not take advantage of the situation. That is no excuse.
"You have to come out and play. You have to play hard. You have to play with intensity.
"We were down in the second quarter, and we got back to four at halftime. We got it to 10 or 12 in the second half, but we were unable to stop them in transition.
"They had two or three people out on the break, and they ran high-low. They forced the defense out, and then they passed the ball. We did not get back, and they had two on ones, three on ones and three on twos.
"We worked on pressure. We wanted to pressure their young ballhandler, but we had some miscommunications in our diamond press.
"We did not get back. They would get the ball and throw it to an open player, and they were able to score."
Wheeling Central was able to turn defensive rebounds and turnovers into easy baskets at the other end of the court.
"Rebounding killed us," Stead said. "We did not put a body on anyone. When the ball is released, you have to find someone in a different color and get on them. You have to put your body on them, and you have to box them out. We did not rebound.
"They would get the rebound, and they would have girls running down the court. They had a lot of open shots.
"We made mistakes tonight. We made some self-inflicted mistakes."
The Maroon Knights defeated the Red Riders, 95-61, Dec. 21 at home. Wheeling Central had multiple girls for Thursday's game.
"We were missing some girls tonight, so we had different lineup tonight," Olejasz said. "We played a lot differently. They played a little different.
"Weir is physical. Rick does a good job. He always has something up his sleeve whenever we play them."
Monday is the cutoff date for team's to qualify for the annual OVAC Tournament. The top four in each class qualify for the annual tournament.
Weir entered the game against Wheeling Central in second place in the Class 4A standings behind Indian Creek. Buckeye Local is third in the standings, while East Liverpool is fourth.
Wheeling Central entered the game against Weir in fifth place in the Class 3A standings behind Martins Ferry, Union Local, Bellaire and Fort Frye.
Weir is scheduled to play Dover Saturday afternoon at home. The JV game is slated to start at 11:30 a.m.
Wheeling Central is scheduled to play St. Marys Thursday night at home.
Wheeling Central 64, Weir 46
Wheeling Central 16 11 22 15 – 64
Weir 10 13 10 13 – 46
WHEELING CENTRAL (11-4): Severns 4 0-0 8, Fitzsimmons 11 1-1 25, Ratciffe 1 0-0 3, Hanson 0 0-0 0, Schmitt 0 0-0 0, Miehle 1 0-0 3, Robrecht 1 0-0 2, Ondrejko 0 0-0 0, Blake 11 1-1 23. TOTALS: 29 2-2 64.
WEIR (7-7): Baker 4 0-1 9, Kaufman 2 0-0 5, Turner 4 1-2 9, Lash 3 1-1 7, Faulks 0 0-0 0, Hoover 6 3-3 16, Weber 0 0-0 0, Utt 0 0-0 0, Spencer 0 0-0 0, Baltimore 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 19 5-7 46.
3-POINTERS: Wheeling Central 4 (Fitzsimmons 2, Ratcliffe, Miehle); Weir 3 (Baker, Kaufman, Hoover)