Photo by Nick Henthorn Wheeling Central’s Kaitlyn Blake tries to drive by Linsly’s Dina Stojic during their game Wednesday on Coach Skip Prosser Court.

WHEELING — A third quarter explosion helped Wheeling Central pull away from Linsly on Wednesday in a 92-56 win on Coach Skip Prosser Court.

Leading 23-12 after the first quarter and 41-31 at halftime, Central picked up the tempo and scored 31 points in the third quarter to take a commanding lead the rest of the way.

“In the second half we kind of got the pace where we wanted it,” Wheeling Central head coach Roberta Olejasz said. “We wanted the game to be a lot faster, that’s what we do, we like to run. When we could get the game going towards a faster pace, that made it easier for everybody to score. I think we had four in double figures again tonight.”

Kaitlyn Blake scored 29 points with 11 rebounds, and Seneca Heller finished with 27 points, 14 assists, seven rebounds and six steals. Addie Payton followed with 16 points, and Bella Fitzsimmons had 10.

“They’re really good, and we knew that going in,” Linsly head coach Rebecca Upton said. “We call their three the Big 3 with Payton, Blake and Heller. They’re going to win a lot of games. For us, we’re down some humans, we’ve got a couple injuries and we’re still trying to figure some things out. They’re really good, give them a lot of credit tonight.”

Linsly’s Haylen Cook paced the Cadets with 23 points and nine rebounds, both team-highs. Her four assists and four steals were each tied for the team-high.

“Addie Payton had 16 for us, she and Bella Fitzsimmons had a tough defensive assignment with Haylen Cook, who is an outstanding player, and she had to earn her points tonight,” Olejasz said. “She got them off rebounds, pull-ups, dribble drives, she didn’t get many open looks, she took some really hard shots, she’s very good.”

Wheeling Central ended the first quarter on a 11-2 run to turn a two-point lead midway through the period to an 11 point advantage. Blake started the game 1-5 but went 13-16 the rest of the way. Just like the Maroon Knights as a whole exploded later in the game, the senior forward also got better as the game wore on.

“That’s Kaitlyn’s fourth double-double in four games for us,” Olejasz said. “That’s kind of what we expect from her. She can do pretty much anything- she’ll bring the ball up the floor for us if we need her to. She’ll rebound the basketball, score from inside or outside, she just does whatever you ask of her.”

Heller’s well-rounded performance had her within shouting distance of a triple double, falling only a few rebounds short.

“She played tremendous defense, she played tremendous on offense, she shared the ball really well, Seneca was really good tonight,” Olejasz said.