MARIETTA — Every time Marietta made a push, Wheeling Central had a Sancomb brother there with an answer.

Eli and Luke Sancomb combined for 70 points to lead the Maroon Knights to an 86-75 win over the Tigers Friday at Sutton Gym. Central improved to 2-0 while Marietta dropped to 3-2.

“That was a high-level basketball game,” said Marietta head coach Austin Gardner. “Just an unbelievable performance (by the Sancombs). When you’ve got a point guard that’s 6-foot-5 and has vision and doesn’t get sped up, it makes it really hard to press and do those things.”

Eli Sancomb finished with 45 points and 10 rebounds. He was 14 for 27 from the floor, 5 for 9 from 3 and 12 for 13 from the free-throw line. His little brother, Luke, added 25 points on a scorching 9 for 10 from the floor, including 7 for 8 from 3.

“I just told their mom, ‘Thanks for having those kids,” laughed Central assistant coach Tyler Morando, who was filling in for head coach Mel Stephens. “Those guys are so competitive. They want to win in everything. Our most competitive practices are the ones where those two are kind of getting after each other. That raises our team’s attitude and competitiveness. They’re super unselfish. I know they score a lot of points, but if guys are open, they’re going to get them the ball.”

Eli Sancomb also notched six assists, with four of them leading to treys by the younger Sancomb.

“The screen and rolls where he slips the screen — he got a lot of good looks off that,” Eli Sancomb said. “It just comes second nature. We’re in the gym all the time together, just sweating all the time and just working and having fun with it. That’s the most important thing. He puts in so much time and so much effort into basketball. People underestimate him because of how small he is, but he works extremely hard, and I have the most belief in him.”

Marietta averaged 56.3 points in its first four games. The Tigers looked much improved coming off a loss to Steubenville where they netted just 29 points.

“I’m glad that we finally took the lid off the basket after four games, so that was a good thing,” Gardner said.

Owen Riley led MHS with 20 points. Zaiden Wittekind, who fouled out early in the fourth quarter, added 19 points. Logan Grosklos chipped in 13 points while Trey Hawkins finished with 10 as the Tigers shot 48.3% (28 for 58) from the floor.

On the other end, the Knights were 53.8% (28 for 52) from the floor and 68.4% (13 for 19) from beyond the arc. Eli Sancomb set the tone with a stepback 3 from the wing to make it 3-0 as Central never trailed. The Knights jumped out to a 12-2 lead and were up 23-13 by the end of the first.

Marietta got within two, 30-28, with 3:07 left in the second after consecutive 3-pointers by Trenton McVey and Wittekind. However, Eli Sancomb responded with another stepback triple before Luke Sancomb nailed back-to-back triples to stretch the margin to 10, 41-31, at halftime.

Hawkins opened the third with a basket and then assisted Riley on a 3-pointer to cut it to 41-38. Later, a 3-ball by Grosklos got the Tigers within one, and Riley’s bucket at the 4:33 mark tied the game for the first time at 49-all. Continuing the theme, it was a long-range shot by Eli Sancomb that halted Marietta’s momentum, and the Knights closed the third on a 15-5 run to take a 64-54 advantage into the final eight minutes.

“We knew they could shoot the ball,” Morando said. “They made a lot of shots tonight. Defensively, we kind of had some breakdowns, and we knew that if we had those breakdowns, they’re going to make shots. But I thought we got stops when we needed to, and I thought we made plays when we needed to. Very big win for us. They’re a really good team and they’re going to win a lot of games. This was a big opportunity to come into a hostile environment to play a really good team and come out with a win.”

McVey converted a three-point play to begin the fourth as Marietta kept fighting back. Hawkins’ basket got the orange and black within 73-70 in the final minutes, but Eli Sancomb did what clutch players often do and iced the game at the charity stripe down the stretch.

“They were very physical with me,” Eli Sancomb said of Marietta’s defense. “I thought they did a solid job just being really physical with me. They were a very hard fought team and a well coached team. We knew coming into this game it was going to be tough, and it was.”

When Eli Sancomb wasn’t scoring the points himself, he was often creating offensive opportunities for others.

“I’ve watched a lot of college basketball, played some college basketball and coached in college — he might be one of the best passers I’ve seen,” Gardner said of the Liberty University recruit. “His best attribute is his passing ability. His no-looks. He knows where guys are. He’s got great teammates that shoot or cut off the ball. They read the defense really well. That’s what makes it really tough.”

The Tigers are off until Monday when they visit Patriot Prep Academy in Columbus.

“There’s no moral victories, but we left it all out there tonight, and I’m glad, at least from an offensive standpoint, we gained a little confidence,” Gardner said. “We just need to play with a little more discipline down the stretch and give ourselves a better chance to win the game.”

Central is right back at it Saturday when it takes on Waverly in the Buckeye 8 Challenge at the ECO Center. The Knights will then return to Washington County Tuesday to face off against Warren.

“Our offensive game right now is on point,” Eli Sancomb said. “We just got to get the defense straightened up a little bit. I think we’re going to be all right.”

Morando added, “If you’re going to play in games like this, you’re going to leave with scars, whether you win or lose. It’s going to be a fight. So when they punched, we kind of took it and we had some punches left in us. And when you’ve got 11 (Eli Sancomb) on your team, you always have a really good chance.”