2020-21 Wellington High School girls basketball team. (Click to enlarge)

by Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow – The Wellington girls basketball team takes to the Crusader hardwood Friday night vs. Mulvane in what appears to be a very promising season ahead. And that isn’t being said by just the fans of Crusader Nation.

Earlier this week, Wellington was picked as the No. 8 team in Class 4A in the preseason Kansas Basketball Coaches Association. It has been a while since Wellington was getting this kind of preseason accolades.

The Crusaders have a lot going for themselves. They return almost everybody from a 12-9 team that reached the sub-state championship. And had it not been for an uncharacteristic second-half collapse against Clearwater in which the season ended on an improbable buzzer-beater, there was a realistic chance this team could have gotten to the Final Four in Salina.

Wellington returns four of its top seven players who scored more than 33 points per game in 2020-21. It has added a couple of freshmen to bring depth to its lineup.

Wellington head girls basketball coach Eric Adams sounds as optimistic as he has been since that state semifinalist team in 2015. In his eighth year at the helm of the Crusaders, Adams has accumulated a 127-54 record and has coached some of Wellington’s best high school teams in any sport in recent history. This could be another one.

Here’s the synopsis:

Top players: 

•Ali Zeka — a 5-10, senior (12 ppg / 6.0 rbg). This will be Zeka’s fourth year as a starter for the team.

•Airalyn Frame —  a 5-9, senior (11.0 ppg / 5.0 rbg). Frame returns for her senior year as a returning starter. 

•Shiney Hughes — a 5-10, junior (6.0 ppg / 3.0 rbg). 

•Ashlyn Gerten — a 5-6, junior (4.0 ppg / 2.0 aspg). 

Potential key players: 

Maddie Nance — 5-11, junior.

Kami Reichenberger — 5-5, junior.

Brit Zeka — 5-10, freshman. 

Val Norwood — 5-8, freshman.

No. of players: 25 players and four returning starters.  Starters lost: Rylee Rusk.

Strength: “This team has a lot of scorers and all can provide points in a variety of different ways,” Adams said. “We have girls that can get to the rim and this team should be one of our better three-point shooting squads.”

Weaknesses:  “We have to be mentally and physically tougher this season,” Adams said. “All basketball seasons have peaks and valleys. How well we respond to those valleys is crucial to our success.”

The competition: Wellington may be eighth in the state, but is predicted to finish third in the Ark Valley Chisholm Trail League Div. IV. That is a testimony to how tough this league is going to be. Andale is coming off a state championship in volleyball and is returning most of its starters in basketball. Clearwater brings back a very promising team including a good group of sophomores.  Mulvane and Rose Hill will have young squads but they are both well-coached teams.

The schedule: Wellington returns to the Mulvane Invitational mid-season tournament for the first time since 2013.

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