The Westside Renegades fell behind early and could never catch up as they fell to Wheeling Central Catholic, 57-38, on Thursday in the Class AA semifinals at the Charleston Civic Center.
Wheeling Central (23-2) jumped out of the gate quickly, but Westside battled back in the final minutes of the quarter to cut the Maroon Knight lead to 16-13 at the end of the first period. The Maroon Knights were able to extend the lead to 38-26 at the intermission due to strong shooting from behind the arc.
After a back and forth third quarter, the Renegades (17-6) trailed 49-36. Westside couldn’t buy a basket in the final quarter, shooting 0-of-10 from the floor in the period as Wheeling Central stormed into the championship game.
“It wasn’t our day I guess,” said Westside head coach Nick Cook. “As well as we shot the first game, we just couldn’t get them to drop today. They were as resilient as they have been all year long. It just wasn’t our day today. We just couldn’t cash in on our opportunities.”
Bradyn Waldron led Westside with 12 points. Kadien Vance followed with 11 points. Coltin Lester netted 5 points. Bryson Blankenship scored 4 points. Kyler Kenneda and Austin Bishop finished with 3 points each.
Wheeling Central Catholic was led by Eli Sancomb’s 24 points and 15 boards. Max Olejasz followed with 20 points and 9 rebounds.
