By CODY TOMER
The Wheeling Intelligencer
WHEELING — After last season’s state basketball tournament was canceled due to the COVID pandemic, this year’s Wheeling Central squad left it all on the floor on Tuesday night to make sure it would get a chance to play in Charleston.
In his second game back from a back injury, junior Ryan Reasbeck garnered 19 points and senior J.C. Maxwell bucketed 13 points to lift the Maroon Knights to a 46-41 victory over Trinity on Coach “Skip” Prosser Court to collect the Class AAA, Region One Co-Final crown in a classic battle to the final whistle.
“This year is definitely different playing into May,” Central coach Mel Stephens said. “I really felt bad for our seniors last year. They had their opportunity cut short. We had six kids coming back and we told them I’m so happy they get this opportunity to go down there. There is nothing like a state tournament.
“I give Trinity a ton of credit. They came in here and played really well. We probably didn’t play our best on either end but to my kids’ credit, they battled and found a way to win.”
The teams went back-and-forth all night and with the Knights leading 44-39 with 58 seconds remaining in the game, Central was called for a technical foul, allowing Gavin Jackson to drain two free throws to make it a one possession game. The Warriors also received the ball with a chance to tie but Reasbeck made a crucial steal and hit a pair of his own free throws to give Central a 46-41 advantage it didn’t relent.
“Ryan Reasbeck has been out for six weeks and he just came back the other night for the first time,” Stephens said. “He looks like he hasn’t missed a beat. All of our guys gave a tremendous effort and I can’t say enough about the guys on the bench the past couple of weeks when we were really short-handed. Those guys were able to step up and keep us winning games.”
James Garbart paced Trinity with 21 points and Jackson added 11.
“I thought both teams played really, really hard,” Trinity coach Rick Hill said. “The difference between our guys and Wheeling Central is experience. We started two freshmen, two sophomores and a junior, who had not played on a varsity team until this year. Our kids fought and fought. That’s kind of the mentality that I was brought up with.
“We made some young mistakes but we’ll be back next year and we’re very excited about it.”
As important as Maxwell’s 13 points were, it was his hustle, heart and leadership that could be clearly seen throughout the game on a gym floor he grew up on.
“This was my last game in this gym,” Maxwell said. “I really got emotional. It meant a lot and I felt like I had to leave everything out there. Being my last year I wanted to do everything I could to get down to state and leave everything out there for my teammates and everyone out there supporting us.
“It was a fun game and definitely one that I’ll remember for a while. They are a tough team and really scrappy. They gave us some problems but it was fun.”
Trinity led 10-9 after an electric first quarter and 20-19 at halftime. The Knights came out in the third and outscored the Warriors 7-2 and eventually took a 35-32 edge into the fourth.
The win also gave Central its first trip to state in Class AAA after making the move this offseason.
“We were basically forced to play some new teams,” Stephens said. “For us, the goals are the same — try to win the OVAC Championship first and then try to qualify for the state tournament.”
The Knights have now done both.
Box Score
Wheeling Central 46, Trinity 41
Trinity 10 10 12 9 — 41
Whg. Central 9 10 16 11 — 46
TCS — Jackson 4 3-3 11; Garbart 9 1-2 21; Hill 0 0-1 0; Bourne 2 3-5 7; Dobbs 0 2-2 2; Totals 15 9-13 41.
WCC — Reasbeck 7 4-5 19; M. Toepfer 3 1-4 8; Maxwell 4 4-4 13; L. Toepfer 0 0-1 0; Ratcliffe 1 0-0 2; High 2 0-0 4; Gray 0 0-0 0; Totals 17 9-14 46.
3-Point Goals: Garbart 2; Reasbeck, M. Toepfer, Maxwell.
