2025-26 WHS boys basketball team.

By Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow —  Here’s an interesting stat concerning the Wellington boys basketball program:

Since Wellington started playing basketball in 1919, more than 106 years ago, there has been only one other time when the Crusaders have won 13 or more games in three successive seasons.

That would be from 1944 to 1947, when the U.S. was finishing up World War II and Wellington was competing for the state basketball championships annually.

Yet from 2022 to 2025, Wellington went 15-8 in 2022-23, 13-9 in 23-24, and 15-7 in 24-25. Wellington has reached the sub-state championship game in all three years and has gotten to state once.

That’s some heady success. Now, if they can do it for a fourth consecutive year, that would be a trend.

Cooper Hatfield will be returning as a senior for the Crusader team. 

The trouble is, it appears to be a steeper uphill climb this season. There’s no doubt this team has some rebuilding to do.

The Crusaders lost six big-time players from last season and more than 90 percent of their offense. Dusty Bannister, Carter Burnett, Grady Norris, Jagger Norris, Brody Weir, and foreign exchange student Matteo Basso have all graduated.

So Wellington will be a work in progress, especially in the early going of the season.

Eighth-year head coach Joe Newman said he’s optimistic about this group. He states:

“Even with a lack of varsity experience, this group has the potential to have a great season and finish well over .500. We will get tested early on with some strong opponents. But if we can win several of these early games it will be a huge confidence builder and playoff seeding.”

Jackson Newman will be one of three senior starters in 2025-26. 

Let’s remember something. Much of this same rebuilding talk centered around the football team in August. That team matched last year’s 8-3 record and advanced to the third round of the state playoffs just like 2024. A lot of these same players are back on the hardwood.

The projected starting five for tonight’s home game vs. Garden Plain:

•Cooper Hatfield, 5-11, sr.

•Jackson Newman, 6-0, sr.

•Milo Elder, 6-1, sr.

•Cole Zeka, 6-3, jr.

•Kingston Scott, 6-0, so.

“Cooper, Jackson and Milo have great chemistry on the floor and a knack for making the right play,” Newman said. “We have great leadership from our underclassmen.”

Newman said Zeka has really improved over the offseason and has shown he can be a key scoring option. Kingston, the lone underclassman varsity starter, has shown he’s capable of running the point guard position for this squad and is as explosive as they come.

The team also has depth, Newman said. It’s likely that nine to 10 guys will see the varsity floor.

“I look for us to be able to shoot the three-ball well and to use our speed to get out and run in transition,” he said.

Still, the team lacks experience. Only Hatfield and Jackson Newman have varsity experience.

“Over the last several years, we’ve had a wealth of size,” Newman said. “Each year, we had multiple guys who were 6-3 or bigger. Now our roster only has two.”

Andale and Collegiate have won 14 of the last 15 Ark Valley Chisholm Trail League Division IV titles. It’s likely to happen again.

“I believe we could be in that mix,” Newman said. “Rose Hill will be much improved, while Clearwater and El Dorado will have their work cut out for them to win some games.”

Newman had this to say about the season ahead:

“We will see Garden Plain, Pratt, Andale, and Collegiate, with the potential to see Cheney in their tournament. Four out of those six games will be at home and then we will be on the road a lot after winter break. Winning several of these early games will be huge for our confidence and playoff seeding.”

2025-26 Boys schedule: 

Tues., Dec. 2 — Garden Plain, home.
Cheney Tournament:
Tues. Dec. 9 — Hutchinson Trinity, home.
Thurs., Dec. 11 — Pratt, away
Sat., Dec. 13 — Cheney finals. Games TBA.
AV-CTL DIV first round:
Tues., Dec. 16 — W. Collegiate, home.
Fri., Dec. 19 — Andale, home.
Tues., Jan. 6 — Rose Hill away.
Fri., Jan. 9 — Clearwater, home.
Sat., Jan. 10 — Wamego (Friends University), 3 p.m. (Challenge game)
Tues., Jan. 13, El Dorado, away, 6 p.m.
Non-League:
Fri., Jan. 16, Winfield, away, 6 p.m.
Chaparral Tournament: Jan. 20-24.
Tues., Feb. 3 — Mulvane, home.
Tues., Feb. 10 — Augusta, away.
AV-CTL DIV second round:
Fri., Feb. 13 — W. Collegiate, away.
Tues., Feb. 17 — Andale, away.
Fri., Feb. 20 — Rose Hill, home.
Tues., Feb. 24 — Clearwater, away.
Thurs., Feb. 16 — El Dorado , home.
Sub-state post-season: Tuesday, March 3, Fri., March 6.
State: March 11 – first round, site TBD. March 13-14 at Hutchinson.