Phi Slama Jama, behind-the-back looks, Wellington had a great night of basketball
Morice Ayers had himself a game, scoring 22 points Friday night. (Photos by Eric Rinehart)
By Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — It was Wellington’s night: homecoming and victories everywhere. The Crusader boys defeated El Dorado 67-60. The girls won 71-13.
For the boys, Wellington staved off a surging Wildcat team that has been playing better ball of late. The game was marked with Wellington getting out to at least an 8-point lead and El Dorado coming back. Eventually, the two teams were tied at 49 with 5:33 to play.
Then, the Wellington offense exploded with a bit of Psi Slama Jama. Carter Burnett, off a Wellington steal, slammed it home on the other end. Then Morice Ayers would follow suit on the next possession (he had four for the game). That would spark an 11-point run, with Wellington eventually leading 60-49 at the 4:01 mark. That would sustain Wellington the rest of the way.
A couple impressive slams by @_carterburnett_ and Morice Ayers. @sportsinkansas @Cueballnewscow pic.twitter.com/aBS921O9zl
— Joe Newman (@CoachJoeNewman) February 10, 2024
With the win, Wellington is now 11-5 and the eighth seed in the Class 4A-West (see standings here). The Crusaders hope to avoid undefeated and ranked No. 1 McPherson at all costs at sub-state. An eighth or ninth seed will send the Dukes to McPherson. A seven seed sends them elsewhere. This Tuesday it has a monstrous game against Rose Hill on the road which has both post-season and league implications.
On Friday, Wellington did what it had to do: bat back the 2-14 Wildcats. Wellington head coach Joe Newman states:
“Since the Chaparral tournament, we’ve been emphasizing pace in our half-court offense. The ball was sticking too much, and we were over-dribbling, which led to turnovers and poor shots. Transition to offense is another thing we’ve worked on. We told the team we should be getting 3-4 easy baskets a night by pushing the ball up the floor. It was nice to see glimpses of those points of emphasis out on the court tonight.”
Carter Burnett scored 15 points Friday night.
Wellington was having great success early inside, and the 6-5 senior Ayers was putting on a show against the smaller Wildcat lineup. He ended up with 22 points, going 9-of-15 from the field. Burnett, in his return, was having a great night as well, getting 15 points and shooting an impressive 7-of-10 from the field. Nolan Russell and Brody Weir both had 10 points.
The Crusaders were up early, taking a 14-2 lead. But El Dorado had a couple of sharpshooters in Logan Garner and Chase Lesh, that kept bringing El Dorado back. Garner would score 25 points going 9-of-17 and 3-of-9 from beyond the 3-point arch. Lesh had 18 points going 8-of-10 from the field and 2-of-2 from the arch.
El Dorado would temporarily take a 25-24 lead. Wellington upped the lead to 33-26 at the half.
Wellington’s Dusty Bannister driving to the hoop.
The Wildcats, down 37-30 early in the third, would again come back and led 40-39. It was El Dorado 45-44 at the end of three.
The Crusaders were shooting 54.2 percent from the field for the game. They had 44 points in the paint to El Dorado’s 26.
The full stats can be found here: Wellington-El Dorado stats 2-10-24.
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Britt Zeka with a behind-the-back pass vs. El Dorado.
The girls’ game vs. El Dorado was more like an exhibition. Wellington had no trouble beating the winless Wildcats. It was 24-3 after one, 44-4 at the half, en route to a 58-point win.
The game was only memorable because Britt Zeka showed off some of her ball-handling skills with a couple of behind-the-back shovel passes on fast break layups.
Scoring for Wellington was Britt Zeka, 19; Val Norwood, 17; Lyndy Barton, 16; Dru Zeka, 8; Ella Goodrum, 5; Cruz Cornejo, 4; Natalie Burnett, 2.
The Crusaders are now 15-1, and unless they have an epic collapse in the next two weeks, they pretty much have the Class 4A-West No. 1 seed wrapped up. McPherson, Wellington’s closest opponent at 12-4, lost to Hays on Tuesday, 44-41.
Wellington is still vying for an Ark Valley Chisholm Trail League Division IV championship. Clearwater and Andale are both sitting out there. Clearwater beat Andale 40-28 on Friday.
