Gallery by Heather Belcher
Charleston – Wheeling Central has become accustomed to long stays in Charleston with six titles this century.
The Maroon Knights’ hopes of winning Wednesday’s quarterfinal game against Bluefield lasted about as long as their stay in the capital city.
The Beavers blitzed Central in the opening quarter, taking an 13-2 lead in the first four minutes, fending off a surge, expanding their advantage to 17 and eventually staving off a Central comeback bid with a 76-68 victory Wednesday afternoon in the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center.
With the win Bluefield, last year’s runner-up, advances to the Class AA semis again where it will face No. 3 Chapmanville on Friday a 7:15 p.m.
Leading 57-30 with nine minutes left in the game, the Beavers seemed to have the game well in hand but the Maroon Knights tested that theory. What followed was an onslaught from downtown as Wheeling Central netted a tournament record 13 3s with 10 of them coming in the second half.
It helped Central cut the deficit to six points with 12 seconds to go but the hole was to deep to escape.
“I’m not saying we relaxed but the kids played their hearts out, they always do,” Bluefield coach Buster Large said. “Every team’s going to make a run. It didn’t get out of control by no means and we weren’t pressing. When you go from pressing to back to playing man-to-man like we normally do, there was times where we could’ve changed our defense but we didn’t. We’re just happy to get the win and move on.”
The Beavers were efficient all afternoon, turning defense into offense. They tallied seven steals and scored 14 points off of turnovers but their ability to get out in transition led to opportunities at the rim. They made them count, scoring 48 points in the paint.
“We talk about, in practice every day, paint touches,” Bluefield senior Will Looney said. “Paint touches always lead to better shots whether that’s shots inside the paint or kickouts to find our shooter. But we figured that today we kind of had the size advantage with R.J. (Hairston) down there. Like I said, paint touches are the most important thing and 48 points in the paint is very good for us.”
Caleb Fuller, who averaged 19.5 points per game in the sectional tournament, kept the hot hand Wednesday with a game-high 21 points on 8 of 10 shooting, leading a Beaver squad that placed all five starters (Kam’Ron Gore, Sencere Fields, Fuller, Looney and Hairston) in double figures.
He got things rolling early scoring five of his team’s first nine points with a three-point play that put Bluefield up 9-2. A Hairston rebound and pull-up jumper in transition was followed by a Looney layup and four minutes into the contest Bluefield held strong at 13-2, forcing Wheeling Central coach Mel Stephens to talk it over.
“We knew they were going to double Quinton (Burlenski) and try to get the ball out of his hands,” Stephens said. “I thought early on we just weren’t aggressive enough once we threw it out of that to attack a little more. The loose ball thing has been our bugaboo all year. We just haven’t been able to come up with those a lot. In a lot of games that cost us and today it was a small part of it. Their ability to run the floor and score in the paint – they score a ton of points in the paint. We didn’t do a good job in a paint.”
Central responded to the 13-2 start with a pair of 3s but Fuller had one of his own holstered and ready to launch, giving the Beavers a 16-8 advantage after a quarter. It expanded with a 12-0 run in the second that saw the Beavers go up 30-12 and they carried a 34-17 advantage into the intermission.
Fuller opened the half with another trey and Hairston added a pair of layups, scoring eight of his 13 points in the quarter and finishing with 12 rebounds for a double-double.
A 10-0, 77-second Bluefield run late in the third quarter gave the Beavers a 57-30 advantage with 1:15 left in the frame.
And then the Maroon Knights found the range.
Over the last 8:35 of the game Wheeling Central nailed nine of its 13 3s, compiling 30 points in the final frame but the Beavers held strong with 18 points of their own, eight courtesy of Looney.
“They were shooting the lights out,” Looney said. “The 13 3s, they’re a tournament record, somebody said. It felt good to finally see one of them miss and us finally grab the board.”
Up next for Bluefield is a rematch with a Tiger team the Beavers played once this season. The Beavers won that matchup 74-63 on Feb. 7 at West Virginia State, though the Tigers played the second half without starter Brody Dalton who got hurt in the first half.
“A very good basketball team,” Large said of Chapmanville. “They’re well-balanced, well-coached and they have a great basketball tradition. We have our work cut out for us. We had a very good game the first time we played them but they had a major injury there losing the Dalton kid. It’s going to be a great, great basketball game for the state of West Virginia.”
Email: tylerjackson@lootpress.com and follow on Twitter @tjack94
