Photo by Nick Henthorn Wheeling Central’s Haley Severns and Monroe Central’s Brylee McFrederick battle for a rebound Saturday on Coach Skip Prosser Court during the Maroon Knights’ 58-54 home victory.

WHEELING — The Wheeling Central Maroon Knights had a well-rested opponent on their hands Saturday afternoon on Coach Skip Prosser Court for an OVAC 3A battle. The Monroe Central Seminoles hadn’t seen game action in 14 days thanks to a pair of cancellations, and though the Seminoles came out with a burst of energy against the Maroon Knights, Wheeling Central was able to pull itself together and pull off a 58-54 victory.

The Maroon offense couldn’t get off the ground for the first few minutes of the game, held to one point midway through the first quarter, and Wheeling Central trailed 15-9 at quarter’s end. Wheeling Central regrouped to take a 27-23 lead into halftime, and the second half was back-and-forth, with six lead changes between the two squads.

“I tell you what, man, Monroe Central’s a really good team and they came out and punched us in the mouth in the first quarter,” Wheeling Central head coach Roberta Olejasz said. “And I think the girls were a little surprised by that. Then we recovered, I think, and came out ready to play after the first quarter, they held us to nine, I think, and then our girls came out and started adjusting to their defense.”

Seneca Heller led Wheeling Central with 25 points, and added four assists and four steals to her statline. Erin Maxwell had a strong 13-point, 13-rebound double-double, and Addie Payton joined her teammates in double figures with 10.

Brylee McFrederick led Monroe Central in scoring with 15 points, and in the rebounding department with 13. Miley Bommer scored 13 points for the Seminoles.

“We haven’t played in 14 days,” Monroe Central head coach Troy Baker said. “Our last game was two weeks ago, but we came out and had a good start. Plus, you know, we had the time to prepare. I thought we did some good things today. We needed a little better ball security at times. We would do everything right defensively, and then they would take the ball back and get an easy basket on us.”

After back-to-back scores inside by Payton gave the Maroon Knights a 53-51 lead with under two minutes to play, Wheeling Central had some trouble putting the game away at the foul line. The Knights shot 1-4 in their first two trips to the line, but kept the ‘Noles off the scoreboard on the other side. Bella Fitzsimmons and Heller each went 2-2 at the line thereafter to push the game out of reach for Monroe.

“Bella Fitzsimmons, I mean, she was clutch at the end,” Olejasz said. “We missed what, six free throws at the end and then she hits those two to win it. And I mean, we were in foul trouble. Most of the game we played without Addie Payton for what, three quarters of the game? That hurt. She had three and four fouls, so she was on the bench. She’s critical to our offense and our defense. I mean, I would argue with anyone that she’s one of the best defenders in the state, so when she’s on the bench, that really hurts us. If we’d have to have her off the floor for that long, that’s going to be a problem. Seneca Heller, of course, she’s the other of our two best defenders, she is also one of the best defenders in the state and the two of them together, it just, they just mesh. So we were out of sorts when Addie’s not on the floor.”

Heller earned 16 free throw attempts Saturday to help her to 25 points.

“Seneca was key again, as she always is,” Olejasz said. “I mean, she’s a tremendous player, probably one of the best players in the state. And I would say that she just drug us on her back to get this victory tonight.”

Heller recorded back-to-back steals and assists on the fastbreak to give Wheeling Central their first lead of the game, 22-21, with two minutes to play in the first quarter.

Monroe Central’s Mayzie Emery hit a 3-pointer right before the end of the third quarter to give Monroe Central a 43-42 lead heading into the fourth quarter. Monroe Central last led 51-49 in the fourth.

“I was proud of the way our kids played,” Baker said. “I was proud of the way they finished. We played hard from the beginning to the end and really that’s all you can ask. You know, we made some shots and we missed some shots that we probably should have made. But like I said, we played hard. The kids didn’t give up on each other and, you know, Wheeling Central’s got a good team and we battled with them and it just happens sometimes that you end up on the back end of things.”

Monroe Central is back in action Monday at home against Caldwell. Wheeling Central is off until Dec. 29 when they host Steubenville.

WHEELING — The Wheeling Central Maroon Knights had a well-rested opponent on their hands Saturday afternoon on Coach Skip Prosser Court for an OVAC 3A battle. The Monroe Central Seminoles hadn’t seen game action in 14 days thanks to a pair of cancellations, and though the Seminoles came out with a burst of energy against the Maroon Knights, Wheeling Central was able to pull itself together and pull off a 58-54 victory.

The Maroon offense couldn’t get off the ground for the first few minutes of the game, held to one point midway through the first quarter, and Wheeling Central trailed 15-9 at quarter’s end. Wheeling Central regrouped to take a 27-23 lead into halftime, and the second half was back-and-forth, with six lead changes between the two squads.

“I tell you what, man, Monroe Central’s a really good team and they came out and punched us in the mouth in the first quarter,” Wheeling Central head coach Roberta Olejasz said. “And I think the girls were a little surprised by that. Then we recovered, I think, and came out ready to play after the first quarter, they held us to nine, I think, and then our girls came out and started adjusting to their defense.”

Seneca Heller led Wheeling Central with 25 points, and added four assists and four steals to her statline. Erin Maxwell had a strong 13-point, 13-rebound double-double, and Addie Payton joined her teammates in double figures with 10.

Brylee McFrederick led Monroe Central in scoring with 15 points, and in the rebounding department with 13. Miley Bommer scored 13 points for the Seminoles.

“We haven’t played in 14 days,” Monroe Central head coach Troy Baker said. “Our last game was two weeks ago, but we came out and had a good start. Plus, you know, we had the time to prepare. I thought we did some good things today. We needed a little better ball security at times. We would do everything right defensively, and then they would take the ball back and get an easy basket on us.”

After back-to-back scores inside by Payton gave the Maroon Knights a 53-51 lead with under two minutes to play, Wheeling Central had some trouble putting the game away at the foul line. The Knights shot 1-4 in their first two trips to the line, but kept the ‘Noles off the scoreboard on the other side. Bella Fitzsimmons and Heller each went 2-2 at the line thereafter to push the game out of reach for Monroe.

“Bella Fitzsimmons, I mean, she was clutch at the end,” Olejasz said. “We missed what, six free throws at the end and then she hits those two to win it. And I mean, we were in foul trouble. Most of the game we played without Addie Payton for what, three quarters of the game? That hurt. She had three and four fouls, so she was on the bench. She’s critical to our offense and our defense. I mean, I would argue with anyone that she’s one of the best defenders in the state, so when she’s on the bench, that really hurts us. If we’d have to have her off the floor for that long, that’s going to be a problem. Seneca Heller, of course, she’s the other of our two best defenders, she is also one of the best defenders in the state and the two of them together, it just, they just mesh. So we were out of sorts when Addie’s not on the floor.”

Heller earned 16 free throw attempts Saturday to help her to 25 points.

“Seneca was key again, as she always is,” Olejasz said. “I mean, she’s a tremendous player, probably one of the best players in the state. And I would say that she just drug us on her back to get this victory tonight.”

Heller recorded back-to-back steals and assists on the fastbreak to give Wheeling Central their first lead of the game, 22-21, with two minutes to play in the first quarter.

Monroe Central’s Mayzie Emery hit a 3-pointer right before the end of the third quarter to give Monroe Central a 43-42 lead heading into the fourth quarter. Monroe Central last led 51-49 in the fourth.

“I was proud of the way our kids played,” Baker said. “I was proud of the way they finished. We played hard from the beginning to the end and really that’s all you can ask. You know, we made some shots and we missed some shots that we probably should have made. But like I said, we played hard. The kids didn’t give up on each other and, you know, Wheeling Central’s got a good team and we battled with them and it just happens sometimes that you end up on the back end of things.”

Monroe Central is back in action Monday at home against Caldwell. Wheeling Central is off until Dec. 29 when they host Steubenville.