A.J. Snipes hits a jumper. Stunningly he wasn’t called for a charge here.

by Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — It will go down as the night that many would call as the “fantom charge” in Wellington, which could be argued as the reason why Wellington lost to Rose Hill 53-46 in the boys sub-state championship Saturday.

A.J. Snipes, arguably the heart and soul of the Wellington basketball team, was sporting three fouls. He would drive the court in what appeared to be one of his patented layups only to get a charge. With four fouls, he had to sit on the bench.

Then early in the fourth quarter, the same scenario played out the same way and the same official made the same call. Snipes had fouled out with five minutes to play.

Wellington would go onto lose 53-46

After the game was over Wellington head coach Brian Buchanan was much more diplomatic than the average fan or at least he was with the media.

“It was just unfortunate, but it is what it is,” Buchanan said.

One can only guess how the final five minutes would have played out with Snipes in the lineup. For the next three minutes, Wellington, though, did not wilt playing tit-for-tat with Rose Hill. The gymnasium was as loud as it has ever been since its construction more than a decade ago.

The Crusaders would eventually tie the game on a Wes Gilmore 3-pointer on the right corner to make it 42-all with 2:13 to play. But Rose Hill, in the double bonus, would go nuts scoring at the free throw line. The Rockets’ Aaron Moore, after hitting a free throw to break the tie, would hit a trey at the top of key on the next possession.

Wellington took a couple of bad misses on its end of the floor and Rose Hill would start doing all its damage at the charity stripe, going 6 of 6 down the stretch for the win.

For the game, Rose Hill was 17-of-24 at the free throw line while Wellington was 6-of-7.

The Crusaders most certainly could look back at this game and kick themselves for what was arguably a lackluster first half. Rose Hill built a 14-5 first-quarter lead and would open a 27-17 advantage by intermission.

“We didn’t do a lot right defensively tonight, and that’s on me,” Buchanan said. “Rose Hill took advantage of the opportunities that was in front of them.”

Wellington had no answers for Bret Bonar who scored 27 points for Rose Hill and accounting for more than 50 percent of the Rockets scoring. Snipes had 13 with Gilmore 12.

The game could arguably be known as a microcosm of Wellington’s season as a whole that had many ups and downs throughout the year. Wellington finishes at 11-11 and will graduate seniors Gilmore and Connor Phelps.

The Crusaders should return their two premier sophomores Snipes and Ian King, making for an interesting next two years.

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