Photo by Nick Henthorn Wheeling Central’s Bella Fitzsimmons drives towards the basket during a regular-season game against Martins Ferry. Wheeling Central will face Wayne in the first round of the state tournament.

CHARLESTON — The WVSSAC Girls Basketball State Tournament often comes with its fair share of nerves and anxiety, but for the Wheeling Central Maroon Knights, who enter the Class AA field as the No. 3 seed, the Charleston Coliseum is a familiar destination.

“I think that since they’ve played here last year, and the prior year– each of the last four years, we’ve been here– but the prior year we made it to the semis, and last year we lost, obviously, in the finals to Charleston Catholic,” Wheeling Central head coach Roberta Olejasz said. “And so I don’t expect us to have any of those jitters just because they’ve been here before multiple times.”

Central (19-5) is slated to take on No. 6 Wayne (17-6) in a quarterfinals matchup on Wednesday at 11:15 a.m. inside the Charleston Coliseum. The Maroon Knights and the Pioneers did not meet in the regular season– in fact, Wednesday will be the first meeting between the two teams in at least 15 years.

The Pioneers, last season’s Class AAA state champs who were moved down to Class AA this season, are led by junior guard Jaycelyn Sammons, who enters the state tournament with an impressive season at her back. Sammons averages 26.5 points, 6.3 rebounds and 4.8 steals per game. The only other Pioneer averaging double figures is sophomore Megan Thompson at 10.5

“They’re a very good team,” Olejasz said of Wayne. “They’ve got a really good player, Sammons, and we’re going to need to limit her. If we can contain her- they have other good players out there, but if we can contain Sammons, and if the game’s in the 60s or 70s, I think that’s the pace that we like to play. If it’s in the 40s, I think we’ll be in a dogfight.”

As for Wheeling Central, they return four of five starters from last year, with senior guard Seneca Heller averaging 19.3 points, 4.8 assists and 4.3 steals per game, all team-highs.

Addie Payton and Haley Severns are senior starters, while Bella Fitzsimmons, who averages 12.5 points and 8.4 rebounds, is the lone junior in the starting lineup.

Each of those four were starting stalwarts last year, while senior Erin Maxwell entered into the starting lineup this season and made her mark, coming into the state tournament second on the team in scoring at 13.9 points per game, and pulling down 8.4 rebounds per game.

Maxwell too has state tournament experience, as she saw time in each of Wheeling Central’s three tournament games last year off the bench, and posted a near double-double in the Maroon’s state championship game, a performance that proved a sign of things to come for the senior.

“She’s a heck of a ballplayer,” Olejasz said of Maxwell. “Her moves in the paint are very good. She can shoot the ball from the outside. She’s a big threat for us. In that state championship game, she played a lot. She really broke out, and then she has just continued that momentum all the way through this season.”

Central’s experienced unit has Olejasz and her staff’s trust heading into their biggest game of the year.

“As a coaching staff, we have a lot of trust in our players, and that’s because they’ve earned it,” Olejasz said. “And so when they’re on the floor, they have the ability to call plays, do whatever they see while they’re out there. Not just having it come from the bench. We really do trust that core group of girls.”

Wheeling Central is the No. 3 seed in the Class AA bracket, while James Monroe (22-1) — who Central played in the state semis last season– and Williamstown (19-3) are the top two seeds in the class.

“I think that AA is absolutely loaded this year,” Olejasz said of the field of teams. “I think that anyone can lose on any given night. Every team that we go up against in this state tournament run is a high-caliber basketball team and well-coached.”

The winner of Wednesday’s Wheeling Central-Wayne game will play in the Class AA semifinals on Friday, with the state championship game set for Saturday at 12:30 p.m..