(Updated) Wellington boys get 2nd straight win; girls stay undefeated
Jack Wright scores 14 points against Winfield, including four 3-pointers in the first half.
(Updated with Joe Newman quote 12-23-21) by Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — One thing you can say about this particular group of Wellington boy Crusaders: they keep things interesting.
The Wellington boys defeated Winfield 71-70 in overtime thanks to a 2.9 second 3-pointer by Banks Hinshaw. In an earlier game, the Wellington girls stayed undefeated with a 57-34 victory over the Vikings. Chad Whaley got his varsity debut as a head basketball coach. Joe Newman was out with the flu.
The Crusader boys will go into Christmas break on a two-game winning streak with a 3-4 record. And like the Rose Hill game on Friday, it came down to the final possession.
After beating Rose Hill by one the week before, the Crusaders again were staving off a last-second buzzer-beater. Frustratingly, unlike the Rose Hill game, Wellington was doing so after blowing an 11-point fourth-quarter lead.
“We are having a hard time with people pressing us,” Whaley said while wearing a bright red ugly sweater. “We need to get more aggressive and force them to foul and get ourselves to the free-throw line. Someone needs to step up and be a leader.”
Newman sent the following quote after this story was written:
What a wild finish. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to witness it in person, but was on the edge of my seat all night. I’m under the weather, but am fortunate to have a great staff that was able to step up and take over the game day operations. I’m proud of our team for showing resilience and finding a way to come out with the win. Losing a lead late in the game can be detrimental, but this group showed a lot of toughness and kept competing.
After the slow start, winning two straight and sitting at a 3-4 record, this group is heading into break feeling pretty good. I’d also like to shout out our C team who is 6-0 so far and our JV who is 6-1. Thanks to everyone for their support so far this season. Happy holidays.
Cope Henry stroked a three at the four-minute mark to give Wellington a comfortable 11-point lead. But then the lead collapsed as Winfield went on a 13-point run. At the 1:18 mark, Winfield hit two free throws to give the Vikings a 64-62 lead. Wellington then got Hinshaw to the free-throw line where he sunk two of them to tie the game. Winfield could not finish off the Crusaders on the other end and the game went into overtime.
Wellington would hold onto a two-point lead for most of the overtime but saw Winfield transfer Ian McCauley, who just came from Wichita South, hit a deuce and then two free throws to give the Vikings a 70-68 lead.
That’s when the ball was dished to Hinshaw in the right corner, who nailed the trey to make it 71-70.
“I didn’t want the game to go into another overtime,” Whaley said. “The boys executed exactly the way it was drawn up.”
There was debate about the time after Hinshaw’s shot. The officials put 2.9 seconds on the clock, but Winfield had to take it the length of the court, to no avail.
Montel Tate led Wellington with 17 points while Jack Wright and Henry both had 14.
Wright had a very good first half, stroking four 3-pointers – three in the first quarter. Crusaders led 21-15 after the first quarter and were in front 35-27 at the half. Wellington led 55-46 after three quarters.
Wellington 71 Winfield 70 (OT)
Winfield — 15 12 9 18 (7) — 70
Wellington — 21 14 20 9 (6)— 71
Winfield: Towles 23, McCauley 21, Thiel 9, Washington 6, Moore 5, Franklin 2, Acota 2, Madrigal 2. Total 20 (6) 12-18 70. Wellington: Tate 17, Henry 14, Wright 14, Hinshaw 9, Rogers 4, Swingle 4, Jones 3, Gill 2, Biles 2. Total: 15 (9) 11-16 71.
The Zeka sisters overwhelm Winfield’s Crosby Curtis in the fourth quarter.
In the girls’ game, Wellington staved off a solid Winfield team that came into the game 3-1.
“We knew we were going to get Winfield’s best shot,” said Eric Adams, Wellington head girls basketball coach. “They are a tough, physical team and they are big. I think their front line was 6-2, 6-1, and 5-9. It is a good team. They like to slow it down and we like to play fast. So we knew it was going to be tough.”
Wellington opened the game taking a 15-4 first-quarter lead and built it from there, leading 33-13 at the half. But in the third quarter, the Vikings found some scoring success. Their zone took Wellington out of its rhythm where it would miss on seven consecutive possessions and saw Winfield cut the margin to 12. At the end of three, it was 43-28.
But Wellington would outscore Winfield 14-6 in the fourth to clinch its seventh win. The Crusaders ranked No. 3 in Class 4A in the latest KBCA poll, won’t play until Jan. 7 – 17 days later.
The Crusaders were led by Airalyn Frame with 15 points. Ali Zeka had 11 and Britt Zeka had 10. Winfield was led by Aleah Moree with 12 points.
Wellington 57 Winfield 34
Winfield — 4 9 15 6 — 34
Wellington — 15 18 10 14 — 57
Winfield: Moree 12, Green 7, Curtis 6, Driver 4, Sparks 3, McCauley 2. Total 8 (3) 9-16 34. Wellington: Frame 15, A. Zeka 11, B. Zeka 10, Norwood 9, Gerten 9, Cornejo 3. Total 15 (5) 12-22 57.
