Defensive pressure was the key in the Wellington-Cheney girls contest as Wellington player Ali Zeka can attest. Above, Berkeley Wright looks for a deuce.

by Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — The Cheney Cardinals came to Wellington Tuesday as visiting hosts of their own tournament.

Cheney’s varsity squads swept both the girls and boys in the Cheney Tournament second round in Wellington. The three-round tournament is at host schools before the finals are played at Cheney on Saturday. The girls lost 58-43 while the boys fell in a 54-51 nailbiter.

It was the debut of Wellington’s new sparkling floor in basketball.

For the girls, it was a battle of the top 10. Wellington was ranked No. 9 in the latest Kansas Basketball Coaches Association poll while Cheney was No. 1 in 3A. After cruising through the first two games, Wellington saw its match with Cheney that has been a perennial state tournament qualifier.

These are strange times. The scoring table and teams were on the east side instead of the west. The cheerleaders and pep band were in the stands. But check out Wellington’s new floor!

Wellington had no answers for the two-time Class 3A player of the year Cheney guard Kylee Scheer, who dismantled the Lady Duke defense with 30 points Tuesday night. It was her senior year, and she rattled off 23 of those points in the first half.

“We implemented a zone in the second quarter and it didn’t go well,” said Eric Adams, Wellington head girls basketball coach. “You could just see her eyes light up. She immediately nailed a couple of 3-pointers.”

Wellington did not look like a team that was getting beat up. Its full-court defense created several turnovers throughout the game. But Cheney never gave an inch and slowly, almost deceptively, pulled away, outscoring the Crusaders by 5 points in each of the first three quarters. Cheney led 13-8 at the end of the first and held a 30-20 advantage at the half after posting a 16-point lead earlier in the second quarter.

The Cardinals would expand the lead to 46-31 going into the fourth, and never let the Crusaders get much closer.

Wellington was led by Airily Frame with 12, her second consecutive game as the team’s top scorer. Myriland “Rye” French had 10. Wellington hit four 3-pointers to Cheney’s 7.

“We were cold tonight, and that is always going to hurt you,” Adams said. “They were a good team but we are a good team. I expected the final score to be closer, but there is a lot of basketball left to be played this season.”

Wellington will now play for third place against a still-to-be-determined opponent. Hutchinson Trinity, Pratt and Chaparral are playing on the other side of the bracket with games being played Thursday. Wellington will play at 1 p.m.

Cheney 58 Wellington 43
Cheney –               13  17   16  12  —  58
Wellington –        8   12   11   12 —  43
Cheney: Scheer 30, Lies 12, Martin 6, Albers 3, Weive 2, Luehrs 2, Durr 2. Total 14 (7) 9-15 58. Wellington: Frame 12, R. French 10, Rusk 7, Zeka 7, Hughes 4, Gerten 2, Reichenberger 1. Total: 7 (4) 17-26 43.

Trenton Bannister at the top of the key early in the second quarter.

The boys game was very close, a departure from the past couple of years where Cheney dominated the Crusaders in these preseason tournaments.

The game ended on a Crusader Banks Hinshaw miss at the top of the key. Hinshaw, who had four 3-pointers in the game, was hoping for a fifth that would have sent the game into overtime, but the ball rimmed off after shooting over a double-team.

The Crusaders had 11 3-pointers in the game. Tanner Meyer had four of his own while Jack Wright, Montel Tate and Berkeley Wright had one.

This marked the third game in five nights and each game has been a dogfight down the stretch with the contest in doubt up to the final seconds. Wellington, now 1-2, will play for third place in the Cheney Tournament on Saturday against a to-be-determined opponent.

Wellington and Cheney traded baskets throughout the first half. It was 12-12 at the end of the first and 25-21 at halftime. The Cardinals expanded the lead to 42-34 after three quarters.

Cheney was up by double digits early in the fourth, before Wellington started to whittle away the lead. The Crusaders have proven in the past three games to be a good fourth-quarter team.

It was 53-45 with 20.8 seconds when J. Wright nailed a 3-pointer and Hinshaw followed suit on the next possession. Cheney kept missing free throws and with 10.8 seconds left, Wellington had the ball and an opportunity to send the game into overtime.

Wellington head coach Joe Newman summarizes the game:

We fought our tails off last night, but came up short. The boys showed tremendous heart in spite of a poor shooting performance. Defensively we continue to be solid. Offensively we seem to have too many lulls. We still haven’t shot the ball to the level we are capable of. When we find our rhythm on offense the sky’s the limit for this group.

Tanner put up some solid numbers and continues to lead us. He contributed 18 points and 8 rebounds. Banks found his shooting touch late in the 4th to keep us in the ball game. He finished with 11 and 7.

We’re on the cusp of getting to the next level as a team. We’re 2 to 3 possessions away from being 3-0 instead of 1-2. It’s a long season and we will continue to get better each day and emphasizing that every possession matters.

Cheney 54 Wellington 51
Cheney –               12  13   17  12  —  54
Wellington –        12   9    13  17 —   51
Cheney: H. Voth 12, J. Voth 11, Grace 11, H. Middleton 7, Doshier 7, D’Shea 2, Peinter 2. Total: 13 (7) 5-11 54. Wellington: Meyer 18, Hinshaw 15, Tate 9, B. Wright 5, J. Wright 3, Hartman 2. Total: 8 (11) 2-2 51.

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