Big Red's Santino Haney puts up a shot against Wheeling Central on Saturday night. - Andrew Grimm

The Wheeling Central standout senior, Liberty University signee and reigning West Virginia Player of the Year dropped a career-high and school record 50 points, 16 rebounds, six assists and two steals in helping the Maroon Knights fend off Big Red 82-72 in a battle of previously unbeaten OVAC powers in front of a standing-room-only crowd.

“He’s unbelievable,” Wheeling Central assistant coach Tyler Morando said. “The scoring is obviously incredible, but all the other things he does without the basketball make him different. We have the best player in the OVAC and the state of West Virginia. I’m biased, I see it every day, but in my mind it’s not close. That’s not to disrespect to anyone else, but Eli is the best I have seen in this area in a long time and everything he gets, he works hard for, earns it and deserves it.”

Sancomb, a 6-foot-5 four-star recruit, had 22 points, nine rebounds and four assists in the first half alone, which would have been a good full game effort for most everyone else. He turned it up even more in the second half, netting another 28 points, seven boards and two assists after halftime.

“That’s why he’s a Division I basketball player,” Big Red head coach Mike Haney said.

Big Red's Cole Bowers takes a shot. - Andrew Grimm

Despite Sancomb going off, Big Red (5-1) made the Maroon Knights work for the victory.

After the Knights (5-0) led 23-16 after a fast-paced opening quarter and opened the lead to 14 with a 12-2 run in the second, Big Red closed the first half on a 10-0 run to pull within 39-35 at the halftime break.

Wheeling Central led by eight (65-57) after three and opened the lead to double digits early in the fourth, but again Big Red came pushing back, this time getting all the way back within two when Santino Haney drained a triple with just over a minute to play.

That was as close as it would get, though, as the Knights took care of business at the foul line down the stretch.

“We knew it was going to be war,” Morando said. “We don’t play them a lot, but we’re not strangers to what they do. They are very athletic, can run, jump, pressure the ball and are very physical, so we knew we had to come out and be more physical and make good decisions.

Big Red's Tre Wiggins grabs a rebound. - Andrew Grimm

“It wasn’t always perfect tonight but we got stops when we needed to and got buckets when we had to.”

Big Red standout junior Santino Haney had a big night of his own, leading Steubenville with 29 points, six assists, three steals and two rebounds.

“Haney is a really good player for them,” Morando said.

Cole Bowers knocked down four treys and finished with 12 points, five rebounds, four assists and a steal and Tre Wiggins hit three triples to finish with 14 points, three boards, two assists and two steals. Jermaine Moore led the team with six rebounds to go with eight points.

“It was a hard-fought game, we kept battling and kept battling,” coach Haney said. “We had it down to two, we needed another shot to drop and it didn’t happen and they went the other way and pulled back away. We can’t hang our heads about this one that’s a very good basketball team that I have no doubt will be playing for a state championship in West Virginia.

Big Red's Jermaine Moore drives to the hoop. - Andrew Grimm

“Our guys played hard, they kept fighting back and playing hard after getting down and that’s what you want to see against good teams. It’s great for us to go against a team like that in a great atmosphere like this. It was a regular season game, but it was a district or regional like atmosphere and hopefully it helps us when we get to time for the OVAC tournament, districts and regionals.

“(Toronto) coach (Sean) Tucker does a great job with this event.”

Backing Sancomb’s monster night was a younger Sancomb — Luke — with 11 points and three steals, hitting three triples.

“Eli had 50 points, but we had a lot of other guys step up in ways that might go unnoticed,” Morando said. “We knew this was going to battle, you come out of battles with scars win or lose.

“Big Red is a really good team, they made some big shots and athletic plays and got steals. Our guys fought and worked hard, they kept their composure and that is a really big win for us.”

Wheeling Central's Eli Sancomb puts up a layup between Big Red's Cole Bowers and Jermaine Moore during Saturday night's game capping the first day of the Todd Kalivoda Holiday Showcase at Toronto High School. Sancomb had 50 points, 16 rebounds and six assists to lead the Maroon Knights to a hard-fought 82-72 victory over Steubenville. - Andrew Grimm

UP NEXT

Wheeling Central: Travels to Ritchie County on Tuesday.

Big Red: Was right back in action Sunday in the event finale against host Toronto.

MORE ACTION

The Wheeling Central-Big Red clash was the prime time headliner, but far from the only action on Saturday.

Earlier in the day, Brooke battled to a close 64-63 victory over Union Local in another all-OVAC clash, giving the Bruins wins less than 24-hours apart. The Bruins were led by Andrew Murdock’s 26 points, while Grant Yost tallied 14 points and eight rebounds.

Host Toronto battled Division III opponent Louisville, coming up short 66-44.

Wheeling Park defeated Marlington 73-50, while Harrison Central fell to Frontier 45-43 in overtime, River defeated Patriot Prep 55-38 and New Philadelphia topped West Muskingum 55-48.

Edison fell 62-35 to Strasburg in the opening game of the event Saturday morning.

Todd Kalivoda Holiday Showcase

Wheeling Central 82, Big Red 72

WC 23-16-26-17 — 82

BR 16-19-22-15 — 72

WHEELING CENTRAL (5-0): L. Sancomb 4 0-0 11; E. Sancomb 18 11-14 50; Kusic 4 1-2 9; Olejasz 3 2-2 8; Bodegard 2 0-0 4; Taylor 0 0-0 0; Rine 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 31, 14-18; 82.

BIG RED (5-1): Wiggins 4 3-3 14; Haney 10 6-6 29; Moore 2 3-6 8; C. Bowers 4 0-0 12; L. Bowers 3 0-0 7; Adams 0 0-0 0; Rea 1 0-0 2; Edwards 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 24, 12-15; 72.

3-POINTERS: Wheeling Central 6 (L. Sancomb 3, E. Sancomb 3); Big Red 12 (C. Bowers 4, Wiggins 3, Haney 3, L. Bowers 1). ASSISTS: Wheeling Central 10 (E. Sancomb 6); Big Red 15 (Haney 6). REBOUNDS: Wheeling Central 32 (E. Sancomb 16); Big Red 26 (Moore 6). STEALS: Wheeling Central 6 (L. Sancomb 3); Big Red 7 (Haney 3). BLOCKS: Wheeling Central 1 (Olejasz 1); Big Red 2 (L. Bowers 1, Edwards 1). TURNOVERS: Wheeling Central 14; Big Red 9.