Circle makes big 4th-quarter comeback over Wellington to win Chaparral Tournament (updated)

January 22, 2023 Cueball

Malachi Rogers with a huge deuce against Circle in second quarter.

(Updated with basketball stats) By Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — Wellington saw a 14-point lead wither way and saw Circle take home the first-place trophy with a 49-48 victory Saturday afternoon.

Circle implemented a full-court press and outscored Wellington 22-10 in the fourth quarter. The loss prevented the Crusaders from capturing its first Chappy Tourney crown since 2014.

“Momentum is a crazy thing,” said Joe Newman, Wellington’s head boys basketball coach. “They were able to swing it their way in the fourth quarter, and we let one slip away.”

The game was everything it was hyped to be. Going into the contest, Circle was ranked No. 4 while Wellington was No. 8 in the latest Kansas Basketball Coaches Association poll. And for most of the game, Wellington was in control.

The game started slowly and it was 2-2 at the 4-minute mark of the first. Then Wellington caught fire going on an 11-6 run. In the second, the Dukes expanded the lead to nine and held a 25-18 lead at the half.

Banks Hinshaw scores 19 points for Wellington.

“We came out firing on all cylinders,” Newman said. “And knocking down shots, not to mention our defense was exceptional.”

Wellington continued its momentum, taking at one point, a 34-20 lead with 2:03 to play in the third. It was 38-27 going into the fourth.

Then things got chippy. In many ways, this game was similar to the Conway Springs contest – two nights before when it was the Crusaders making the big run. The Thunderbirds implemented a full-court press that seemed to rattle the Dukes throughout the final eight minutes.

Wellington was still leading by nine when sophomore Landron Bouldra came off the bench to bury a three with 4:40 to play. That seemed to spark the Thunderbirds to another orbit.

Circle kept chipping away and were within four at the 2-minute mark. Bouldra would hit another to tie the game with a minute to play.

Circle with bucket to take lead. pic.twitter.com/CeM9aBZ8ad

— Tracy McCue (@Cueballnewscow) January 21, 2023

Malachi Rogers then hit one of two free throws. Trevor Cowman would hit a bunker from the paint on the other end, setting up a final last-second shot for Wellington. The shot came up shot and Circle, which never led until the 7-second mark of the fourth quarter the tournament champions.

Circle wins. pic.twitter.com/pKaSdE7o5T

— Tracy McCue (@Cueballnewscow) January 21, 2023

“It was a battle between two good teams and what’d you expect in a championship game,” Newman said. “It was definitely a missed opportunity because we certainly had a lot of chances to close this one out. I felt the Collegiate loss made us a better team and I believe this one will too.”

Wellington was led by Banks Hinshaw, who scored 19 points. Cowman was the leading scorer with 18 points for Circle.

These two teams will go after it again on Feb. 3 when the Thunderbirds come to Wellington for homecoming.

“It should be a great game,” Newman said. “It’s our homecoming so the stands will be full and it’ll be loud.”

Circle 49 Wellington 48
Wellington — 13 12 13 10 – 48
Circle — 8 10 9 22 — 49
Wellington: Rogers 11, Tate 11, Hinshaw 19, Henry 2, Burnett 3. Total: 13 (4) 10-18 48. Circle: Koehn 6, Boldra 8, Cowman 18, Koenigsman 7, Chadwell 8, May 2. Total: 12 (5) 10-16, 49.

Full stats can be found here: Circle-Wellington stats (Chaparral Tournament)

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Chaparral had several post-tournament awards. The all-tournament team is as follows:

Wellington: Jack Wright, Carter Burnett, Montel Tate.

Conway Springs: Nash Johnsen, Taylor Wykes.

Belle Plaine: Isaac Bible.

Circle: Conner Chadwell, Trevor Cowman.

Chaparral: Jackson Swartz, Tyce Pfaff.

Clearwater: Jake Klausmeyer, Ty Cash.

Mulvane: Aiden McKee, Kaiden Abasolo.

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Free throw contest: