T-L Photo/SETH STASKEY LA LUMIERE junior Denham Wojcik, who is the son of Wheeling native Doug Wojcik, goes up for a shot during Saturday’s CRC game against Roman Catholic at WesBanco Arena.

WHEELING — Denham Wojcik is a cerebral player when he’s on the basketball court.

The La Lumiere junior is savvy, does the little things and plays as hard as possible for 32 minutes.

Nothing less would be expected from a son of a coach, team leader and a point guard who has a scholarship offer from Harvard.

Those qualities were on display this weekend during the 13th annual Cancer Research Classic at WesBanco Arena where the Lakers finished the weekend with a 1-1 record, bouncing back with a 68-62 victory against Roman Catholic Saturday afternoon.

“Getting out of here with a win was big because it’s getting to the point (of the season) where it’s a breaking point because you need momentum going into the big tournaments we have coming up,” Wojcik said. “This was a good win, good bounce back and that’s what we came here to do.”

Wojcik wasn’t just happy with the victory, but was excited with how his team took care of its business.

“We played better team basketball,” Wojcik said. “We had seven turnovers and 15 assists, whereas (Friday), we barely had any assists, so we were playing better team basketball, which is the way we want to play.”

Getting a win in Wheeling was especially satisfying for the youngest of two Wojcik boys because many members of his family were in the crowd. His father, Doug, is a Wheeling Central graduate and grew up on Wheeling Island. He’s currently a member of the Michigan State coaching staff.

“It’s great to be able to come here and play,” Wojcik said. “I’ve been (to Wheeling) on several occassions since my dad is from here. My family was in the whole stands. My grandmother, my aunts, my nieces, so it’s great to play in front of them and represent the Wojcik name like my dad and uncle (Dave) did back in the day for Wheeling Central.”

Wojcik thought he played “alright” despite being held scoreless.

“Sometimes when you’re hitting shots, you have to remain confident and think, ‘what else can I do defensively or even offensively to get my teammates going?” Wojcik continued. “I took a charge and tried to rebound to the best of my ability.”

Wojcik has enjoyed a significant increase in minutes this season. He came off the bench for solid action last winter, but with the graduation of his brother Paxson, who is now at Loyola of Chicago, the younger Wojcik has done his part to fill the void.

“The season has gone pretty well and (my teammates) are kind of looking to me as one of couple of returners from the team last year,” Wojcik said. “I learned a lot about the leadership role from being under my brother’s wing. It’s different, but I like it. I have to be on top of everything.”

Denham Wojcik and his brother ‘Facetime’ frequently.

“It’s a little different playing without him, but I’m enjoying it,” Denham said. “He gives me advice and that type of thing.”