By Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — Five things that are happening in Sumner County basketball.

1 – The varsity basketball scores. 

Boys:
Collegiate 76 Wellington 74
El Dorado 54 Clearwater 51
Belle Plaine 47 Douglass 45
Augusta 64 Mulvane 54
Andale 67 Rose Hill 47
Conway Springs 68 Caldwel 36
Cunningham 77 Argonia 37
South Haven 50 South Barber 27
Oxford 77 Pretty Prairie 53.

Girls:
Wellington 84 Collegiate 6
Andale 44 Rose Hill 23
Belle Plaine 35 Douglass 21
Clearwater 55 El Dorado 24
Mulvane 57 Augusta 45
South Haven 57 South Barber 16
Argonia 36 Cunningham 28

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2 – Last-second blues.The Crusaders fell to 2-3 and 0-2 on last-second shots.

A wide-open Jack Grace hit a back-door layup at the buzzer to lift Collegiate 76-74 over the Wellington boys. That thwarted a spirited comeback by Wellington. The Crusaders actually took a 74-71 into the final minute when Dusty Bannister hit two deuces down the stretch. Collegiate’s Kamari Jennings would nail a 3-pointer from the top of the arch. Wellington missed on the other end, and the Spartans had 20 seconds to work on the final shot.

The Crusaders didn’t help themselves early, falling behind 20-4 – a deficit they spent the whole game clawing back out of. The Crusaders cut the deficit in half at the half 35-27, and were down 54-50 at the end of three.

The Spartans built the lead back up to nine, but Wellington went on an 11-2 run to pull within two. Crusaders then used a Brody Weir 5-footer and Carter Burnett layup to help give Wellington its first game lead.

Burnett led all scorers with 21. Grady Norris had 16 and Bannister 13. Collegiate was led by Jaden Parker with 19. Wellington travels to Andale on Friday.

Collegiate 74 Wellington 71
Wellington — 11  16  23  21 — 71
Collegiate  —  25 10  19  22 — 74
Wellington: Burnett 21, G. Norris 16, Bannister 13, Weir 8, Basso 5, Hatfield 3, Newman 2, Norris 2, Elder 2. Total: 21 (7) 9-18 71. Collegiate: Parker 19, Drumright 16, Hines-Turner 15, Grace 7, Chegt 6, Clay 3, Bond 2. Total 21 (7) 13-22 76.

Click here for stats: Wellington-Collegiate stats

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3 – WHS gets a couple of 1,000-pointers.

It would be interesting to see when was the last time two high school players achieved their career 1,000 points in the same ball game.

Britt Zeka and Val Norwood both got their career 1,000th points in the second half of the Wichita Collegiate game. The two seniors, who have been starting since they were freshmen, are that close on the scoring scale. Pretty remarkable.

Last night B. Zeka scored 25 while Norwood had 15 in this complete 84-6 rout.

The Crusaders were leading 53-0 at the half. It was 30-0 after the first quarter. They had a running clock the whole second half and Wellington still outscored its opponent 31-6.

Other Wellington scorers were Dru Zeka 10, Viv Wright 8, Kirstyn Gregory 6, Claire Ginter 4, Ella Goodrum 4, and Cruz Cornejo 4. There is still no word on the Kylan Gregory knee injury she suffered against Cheney.

Wellington, now 5-0, has a big game at Andale on Friday. The Indians are 2-1, beating Rose Hill yesterday 44-23. Many observers believe this game could determine the Ark Valley Chisholm Trail League Div. IV title.

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4 – Latest KBCA rankings. 

Wellington girls remained No. 1 in the Dec. 17 Kansas Basketball Coaches Association rankings. The top 10 for Class 4A is as follows.

1. Wellington
2.  Bishop Miege
3. Topeka Hayden
4. Clay Center
5. Ottawa
6. Eudora
7. Rock Creek
8. Baldwin
9. McPherson
10. Wamego.

The South Haven girls continue to rise, moving up to No. 6 in Class 1A Div. II. The top 10 are as follows:

1. Hanover
2. Lebo
3. Sharon Springs
4. Marais des Cynges Valley
5. Ingals
6. South Haven
7. Bucklin
8. Jetmore
9. Attica
10. Dighton.

The full poll can be found here: KBCA Girls Basketball Class Ranking Dec. 17, 2024

On the boys side, Oxford remains the only Sumner County team ranked. The top 10 in Class 1A Div. 1:

1. South Central
2. Montezuma- South Gray
3. Bishop Seabury
4. Oxford
5. Claflin – Central Plains
6. Olpe
7. Macksville
8. Central Burden
9. Frankfort
10. Clifton-Clyde.

The full poll can be found here: KBCA Boys Basketball Class Ranking Dec. 17, 2024

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5- Sumner County basketball update. 

Mike Heaters’ South Haven girls continue to win and not really be challenged this early season.

Yesterday the Cardinals destroyed South Barber 57-16. South Haven led 18-6 at the end of the first quarter and was up 34-11 at the half. Aubrey Pond led all scorers with 14, Adele Helsel had 12 and Addison Heater 12.

The Cardinals are 5-0 and will battle Norwich before the Christmas season.

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Meanwhile, on the boy’s side, Oxford boys dominated Pretty Prairie 77-53. The Wildcats pulled off the trifecta of 20 pointers.  Kellen Green had 20 points, Sam Wheeler 20 and Cordell Jordan 20. Oxford head coach Kyle Green states:

“It was nice to finally get the big 3 going on the same night as Cordell, Kellen, and Sam all had 20. We are getting into a good flow on offense. Defensively we have some work to do but I think we made good strides tonight. Our bench is contributing as well. Good solid night for the Cats.”

Oxford is 5-1 for the season.

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Then there are the Belle Plaine girls who are having quite a turnaround this season. The Lady Dragons went 3-2 after beating Douglass 35-21. Scoring for Belle Plain were: Ouellette-13
Holt-2, McPherson-2, Bohannon-2, R. Crouch-1, Lawless-6, Dreiling-3, Skaggs-4 and L. Crouch-2

Belle Plaine is 3-2 and will host Haven on Friday.