Photo by Nick Henthorn Wheeling Central’s Seneca Heller calls a play at the top of the key during the Maroon Knights’ game against the Linsly Cadets on Dec. 11. The top-seeded Knights will take on three-seeded Fort Frye at 6 p.m. Saturday in the ECO Center for the 3A OVAC Championship.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — The Wheeling Central Maroon Knights have enjoyed a successful regular season with a 14-2 record, plus a win over the Bellaire Big Reds in the OVAC Semifinals to set up a date with the Fort Frye Cadets in Saturday’s 3A OVAC Championship on the floor at the ECO Center in St. Clairsville.

Though the Knights have played well all season, they feel as if they’ve hit a new level in their last couple games- and the results on the court agree.

“Right now our girls are clicking on all cylinders,” Wheeling Central head coach Robert Olejasz said. “If we can continue to play defense the way that we’re playing, I think everything else will take care of itself.”

Central dropped a road game to Martins Ferry on Feb. 1, but defeated Bellaire in the OVAC Semifinals 72-45, and tackled a top-three W.Va. Class AA matchup on Feb. 5, taking down St. Marys 73-60.

They are led by senior forward Kaitlyn Blake, a returning all-state player and state tournament MVP who has upped her scoring and rebounding from last season to this one, currently averaging 25.6 points and 10.2 rebounds per game.

Junior point guard Seneca Heller is averaging 14.6 points and 5.6 assists per game, and junior Addie Payton joins them in double-figures with 10.7 points per game along with 4.9 assists per.

The Maroon Knights are defending at a high level, rebounding at a high level, and especially shooting at a high level- especially sophomore Bella Fitzsimmons, who has nailed 12 3-pointers in her last two games.

After Wheeling Central’s game against St. Marys in December was canceled due to bad weather, the Knights saw an opportunity to potentially mimic a state tournament run by rescheduling the game in-between the OVAC semis and championship game, playing high-caliber opponents in the same timeframe as they’d have to down in Charleston.

“We’ve got a special group, the majority of them have been playing together for awhile and they all really like each other,” Olejasz said. “[Winning Saturday] would just set the table for what we’re trying to accomplish at the state tournament. Having played a game, a day off, played a game, a day off- this would set us up for what we’d have to do to get to that state title.”

Wheeling Central last won the OVAC in 2020.

To get the conference title, Wheeling Central will need to get through the Fort Frye Cadets, who defeated the Union Local Jets to get to Saturday’s game. Fort Frye is a balanced squad led by guards Ella Dowler, Ava Huffman, Emmie Duskeye and Elle Casto. Dowler, who drilled four triples against Union Local, led the Cadets in scoring against the Jets with 14.

All four of them scored in double figures.

The Cadets’ coach, Dan Liedtke, is certainly experienced, currently resting at 753 career wins.

“Fort Frye plays a very disciplined man-to-man defense,” Olejasz said. “We have to handle the ball well, we have to run our stuff. They’re going to try and slow down the ball, keep the pace slow, and that’s not our style of play, our style of play is to get out and run. It’s going to come down to who wins that battle, I believe.”

The 3A championship game will be the last one to go on at the ECO Center, set for a 6 p.m. start.