Brandon Happy led Belle Plaine with 21.

by Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — It will be an all Sumner County showdown for the Chaparral Roadrunner Classic Tournament Championship tonight. Both Wellington and Conway Springs took care of business Friday night and will play for the all the Chappy marbles tonight tentatively set for 6 p.m. We say tentatively because Wellington’s game Friday was an hour later than originally scheduled.

Wellington defeated Clearwater 76-64. Earlier in the evening, Conway Springs would beat Belle Plaine 63-57.

The Wellington-Conway Springs matchup will be a rematch of a hotly contested game at the the Kingman Tournament in December. Conway Springs won that one 52-51. This marks Wellington’s third consecutive year of qualifying for the Chaparral Tournament Championship game.

Wellington 76 Clearwater 64

Wellington’s A.J. Snipes scored 27 points his career high to help lead the Crusaders to its second consecutive victory over Clearwater. 

The Crusaders, who struggled against Chaparral 56-51 in the first round of this tournament Thursday, were hitting on all cylinders in the Friday night semifinal game that was never really in doubt.

Snipes established the momentum early by hitting three 3-pointers in the first quarter as Wellington rolled to a 26-13 lead.

From that point forward Clearwater could not establish any real momentum. It was able to cut the lead to 10 to open the second half, but Wellington would eventually return to form. Clearwater kept clawing late in the game but again Wellington was able to fight off the onslaught.

Cade Phelps had 13 while Connor Phelps had 12.

Conway Springs 63 Belle Plaine 57

The feisty Dragons met their cross-county rivals for the first time this season on the hardwood. They gave Conway Springs a battle to the end. But Josh Dugan and Christian Hedrick inside proved to be too much for the Dragons. Dugan scored 17 while Hedrick had 15.

Belle Plaine was led by Brandon Happy with 21 points. The Dragons opened the game taking a quick 8-2 lead as Freshman Bo Gooch opened with two treys. The Dragons led 16-14 at the end of the first quarter.

But Conway Springs zone pressure took its toll in the second quarter as the Cardinals would outscore the Dragons 19-10 and led 33-26 at the half. The Cardinals would up their lead to 45-34 at the end of three quarters. Belle Plaine would cut the margin to six in the final stanza thanks in part to Happy’s three 3-pointers.

Belle Plaine will battle Clearwater for third place today. The game is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.