Sure, the Wheeling Park girls’ basketball team started last week as No. 1 in the Associated Press Class AAAA poll.
After impressive wins against two-time defending champion Huntington, along with host Woodrow Wilson at the New River CTC Invitational, the Patriots retained that ranking.
So, the Park ladies and their 9-1 record are No. 1 in their division, but they aren’t the only Wheeling-based team off to a strong start to the 2022-23 season.
Following a season-opening loss to Class AAAA’s Washington High Patriots, the Maroon Knights – under third-year head coach Roberta Olejasz – have reeled off seven straight wins. It’s their best start in Olejasz’s three seasons. But what’s making the difference for Central?
“We’re a lot deeper than we were last year, and we have a true point guard in Brooklyn Edge,” Olejasz said. “We probably go nine or 10 deep now as opposed to last season.”
Let’s examine the numbers briefly to see how that depth is paying off.
In 2021-22, the Maroon Knights’ starter five averaged 20.5 minutes per game, per player. Then junior Lily Vogrin led the way with 22.4 minutes and, of the five starters, only Keira Wilkinson came in below 19.7 per game.
The bench? Only two players—then freshmen Sydney Doyle and Ava Hanson—averaged 8.8 and 8.2 minutes respectively. And that was pretty much it, save for some garbage time minutes for the rest of the roster late in games.
Fast-forward to this season.
The Maroon Knights return four of five starters with only one electing not to play her senior season. Despite the top-heavy experience, Central boasts no less than nine players averaging seven minutes or greater per game—seven of which average at least 12.
In fact, the fourth-highest total in minutes per game is freshman Addie Payton, and she’s not a starter.
Yes, the Maroon Knights’ have a deep bench, and the girls coming off it are supplying meaningful minutes.
What that allows is for Olesajz’s team to pick up the tempo and intensity defensively, running multiple aggressive-style defensive sets, varied based upon on-floor personnel—fresh on-floor personnel.
“It’s allowing us to press,” Olesajz said. “We start out pressing and we have three different, sometimes four, that we’ll run in a game. We run different things with different people in the lineup and change the game up when we need to.”
Returning Home and the Rise of the Rookies
One of the biggest additions to the Central lineup this season is the inclusion Edge, a junior transfer from Linsly.
She is the unquestioned floor leader for the Knights, running the offense and making sure everyone is in the right place. She’s also the team’s leader in scoring (16.4 ppg), assists (6.1), and minutes (29.4).
And yes, this is Edge’s first season in a Central uniform, but it’s a homecoming for the talented junior.
Edge and her St. Vincent’s teammates spent four seasons tearing up the parochial league before opting for Linsly for two seasons.
Her teammates welcomed her return and Edge has fit in seamlessly to the Maroon Knights’ family.
“It feels like she’s come back home,” Olejasz said. “She came in and just fit right in, right away. They couldn’t be happier as a family.”
In addition to Edge, a talented freshman class some six-deep on the varsity is paying dividends already. Four play consistent varsity minutes while two others have shown flashes both at the junior varsity level and varsity spot duty.
Of the team’s top seven scorers, three are freshmen, including 6-footer Hailey Downer, who’s averaging nine points and nearly five rebounds off the bench. Payton is sixth at 4.7 and seventh is 5-11 freshman Haley Severns (3.3).
Those three rookies, plus fellow class member Mariah Radcliffe, all play, at minimum, seven minutes each night. If anyone is upset about the large swathe of minutes going to the ninth graders, it’s not showing on the scoreboard, nor the locker room.
“They are encouraging the freshmen, going against them every day, telling that this is what we expect and how you need to do it,” Olejasz said. “We are very technical when we coach and we try to teach them and they work really hard and are very helpful with bringing them along.”
Sharing the Load
As the coach said, this team is a family, and this family is focused on the right things in order to have a successful season. They play together and cohesiveness and team wins are placed above individual stats and accolades.
Need proof? The team’s leading scorer a season ago was then junior Keiera Wilkinson, at 14.6 ppg. This season, Wilkins is fifth in scoring at 8.1 while being second in rebounds with 5.3.
Has Wilkinson’s game dropped off or is her value to the team dropped any? Absolutely not. But the numbers are a product of more talent and more selflessness with the ball.
“That’s the thing we say almost every day in the locker room, our biggest asset is that we play as a team,” Olejasz said. “There are no I’s. We just enjoy playing as a team. We move it around well and maybe one game, our outside shooting is working, and the next, it’s the inside game.”
That philosophy is evident in the Knights’ inside-outside offensive approach. The team boasts four girls 5-10 or better in the lineup, including starters Wilkinson (6-0) and Rebecca Olejasz (5-10), the team’s leading rebounder.
With the size in strength inside, Central does try to pound the paint.
“We actually try to push the ball inside, which allows up to open up that 3-point shot,” Olejasz said. “We probably have five girls that can shoot the three really well. If they are open, they have the green light.”
That point was made clear in abundance in a recent 68-50 win against Steubenville Catholic Central when the Maroon Knights connected on 17—yes, 17—three-pointers in the win.
“Brooklyn had a triple-double that night, including 10 rebounds, and went 7-of-10 from behind the line,” Olejasz said. “Then Lily also had six threes, it was an amazing night. Valerie Downing had three and our percentages were off the charts.”
Statistically, Edge, Vogrin (13.0), and Downing (11.7) are the team’s top scorers, but when the need arises, Edge can dump the ball down to Olejasz or Wilkinson to hammer home.
“We can pound the ball inside too and it gives us a little bit of diversity in what we can do,” Olejasz said.
Postseason Potential
It’s been three seasons since Central reached the Charleston Civic Center floor for the state tournament, last qualifying in former head coach Penn Kurtz’s final season at the helm.
That was the season teams were pulled off the floor and no champion was crowned. Central lost its quarterfinal matchup with Gilmer County.
The last two seasons, as West Virginia transitioned to four classifications, the Maroon Knights had to try to fight their way through a difficult region that included the likes of North Marion, Keyser, and Hampshire, along with locals Weir and Oak Glen, both of which had solid squads the last two seasons.
This season Central dropped down to Class AA, where a lot of familiar faces from the team’s old Class A days can be found like St. Marys, Williamstown, and Parkersburg Catholic—all of which are in the team’s region.
All of those three teams are capable of making the semifinals or better in Charleston. Might this be the season the Maroon Knights return to that lofty company?
“It’s a tough section and region, that’s for sure,” Olejasz admitted. “But in Class AA, I think this is probably where we should be. I think AAA, there were a lot bigger schools than the size of our school. And we’re playing a lot of the same schools we did back in (Class A).”
Having been down recently, the Knights were not ranked in the Class AA preseason poll by the Associated Press, nor were they even found in the others receiving votes:
Central made its first appearance in the AP’s Top 10 last week, checking in at No. 9, above Region I counterpart Ritchie County at 10.
The next few weeks will tell Olejasz, the Knights, and the rest of the state a lot about what CCHS might be capable of come March.
After meetings with Caldwell and Toronto this week, Central travels to Wood County to face Williamstown on Saturday. That’s followed by a long road trip Monday to face Region II power Frankfurt.
Later, on January 25, another tough road trip awaits at St. Marys.
The results may go a long way to showing just what the Knights are capable of—for now anyway. This team is steadily progressing and will be ready come tournament time.
