Photo by Kristin Mazgaj Wheeling Central’s Bella Fitzsimmons goes in for a layup against Fort Frye Saturday during the OVAC 3A Championship game at the ECO Center.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — For the first time in five years, Wheeling Central is atop the OVAC girls’ basketball world

The top-seeded Maroon Knights (16-2) used a red-hot start to the fourth quarter in defeating No. 3 Fort Frye (15-4) by a 55-46 margin to capture the OVAC WVU Medicine Class 3A Girls Basketball Championship inside the ECO Center.

“It’s been five long years. The girls played well,” Wheeling Central head coach Roberta Olejasz said. “I think we did what we had to do to get it done. Fort Frye is a very good defensive team and is well-coached. We thought if we could get the game into the 60s, we had a good chance at winning. If it was in the 40s, we would probably lose.

Deadlocked at 40 with 36.2 seconds left in the third quarter, Kaitlyn Blake ignited an 8-0 run with a bucket late in the third quarter that gave Wheeling Central the lead for good. The Maroon Knights would net the first six points of the fourth quarter. Bella Fitzsimmons finished a fast break with a layup; Seneca Heller laid one off the glass and Blake capped the mini run with a bucket.

“I thought we played pretty good defense all night,” Olejasz said. “We knew Fort Frye was going to make a run in the second half, but I am extremely proud of the way my girls handled it.”

After the Cadets pulled to within 48-45 on a three-pointer by Ella Dowler with five minutes remaining, Heller knocked down a huge trifecta and, following a Fort Frye turnover, Fitzsimmons made it 53-45 and the party was on.

Fort Frye, which took down No. 2 Union Local in the semifinals, dug itself a huge hole early on with numerous turnovers and a 1-for-6 shooting performance from the floor in the second quarter.

Trailing 18-12 after a first quarter in which Fort Frye connected on half of its eight three-pointers, the Cadets couldn’t buy a bucket in the second quarter as a steal and layup from Dowler accounted for their only points with 32 seconds left before halftime. They went nearly eight minutes in between baskets.

“With a team like Wheeling Central, you can’t turn the ball over and miss shots like we did in the second quarter,” veteran Fort Frye head coach Dan Liedtke said.

Heller’s driving layup just beat the buzzer as Wheeling Central took a 27-20 advantage to the locker room.

Fort Frye, which finished runner up to Martins Ferry a year ago, used Emmie Duskey’s 11-point third quarter to pull even at 40, but it might have used a little too much energy in mounting the comeback.

“We had to really battle there in the third quarter to get ourselves back into it,” Liedtke noted. “There were a few things that happened and we turned the ball over a couple of times.”

Seneca Heller, Fitzsimmons, Angelina Robrecht, Kendall Schmitt, Addie Payton and Berklee Heller all won their second OVAC titles this school year. They were members of the Maroon Knights soccer team in the fall.

“I give Wheeling Central a lot of credit. They hung in there when we made our run,” Liedtke said.

Blake led Wheeling Central with 18 points, four rebounds and three assists to earn the John Howell Most Valuable Player trophy. Heller added 14 points, five assists, five steals and a trio of rebounds, while Fitzsimmons had 12 points, five rebounds and three steals.

“It was a total team effort,” Olejasz stressed. “Hailey Severns hit some key shots in the third quarter. Bella had some key shots. Addie had a big shot. Kaitlyn played tremendously and Seneca also played very well.”

Fort Frye was paced by Duskey with a game-best 19 points. She also charted four rebounds, four assists and three steals. Dowler chipped in 13 points, three boards and a pair of steals.

Fort Frye had four more turnovers at 14-10 and both teams secured 22 rebounds.

Wheeling Central shot 57 percent (25-44) from the floor to 42 percent (16-37) for Fort Frye. The Maroon Knights also enjoyed a 20-8 edge in points in the paint.

The title was the first for Olejasz in her coaching career and the 13th all-time for Wheeling Central which is the third most in OVAC girls competition.