Wellington falls to Bishop Miege in first round of state tournament 63-49
by Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — The Wellington Crusader season came to an end on a spirited 63-49 loss to three-time defending state champion Bishop Miege Thursday night in the first round of the state tournament at the Tony Pizza Center in Salina.
Lauryn Snipes
Wellington was trailing 47-45 at the 4:25 mark of the fourth quarter when Miege brought the ball down court hit a layup, created a steal and then buried a trey to take a 52-45 lead.
The Crusaders, who were down as many as eight points in the first half against the Stags, seemed to not have have anything left in the tank to make a trademark comeback. The hard charging Miege team would go on to win by 14 – a score not indicative of the game.
This was clearly the best team Wellington played all season. Miege was quick, fast, and had deft three-point shooting stroking six of them in the first half alone and seven for the game.
But Wellington went 28 minutes toe-to-toe with a team that hasn’t lost to a 4A school since dropping to the classification in 2013.
A tremendous Crusader crowd was there to egg the team on. And when Wellington opened with a 5-0 lead thanks to a Snipes trey and deuce this stadium was rocking. It was 7-2 and 11-7 Crusaders when suddenly the Stags put on their Superman capes and scored a bushel of points. By the two minute of the first quarter, it was 20-13 Bishop Miege.
Still, the Lady Dukes fought back. Avery Rusk started a Wellington run and at quarter’s end it was 20-17 Stags.
Wellington had trouble getting anything to fall from the field in the second quarter, but the Crusaders were hitting free throws and at intermission the Crusaders were very much in it trailing 32-28.
The Crusaders then played one of their best quarters of the season, outscoring Miege 10-9 in the third. Neither team scored in the final four minutes of the quarter, but the defense was on.
Shayland French scored a bucket early in the fourth to pull the Lady Dukes within three. Rusk’s layup soon after made it 46-43 Miege. The Crusaders, who were hot at the foul line in the first half, turned cold, and couldn’t take advantage of a barrage of Miege fouls. At 4:25 to play it was 47-45 Stags. That was as close as the Crusaders would get for the rest of the evening.
Snipes, a four-year starter for the Crusaders, would end her career scoring 24 points. Avery Rusk would follow with 8.
Wellington lost this one due to poor shooting. The Crusaders were 14 of 46 from the field for 30.4 percent. Wellington, who holds the state record for three-point percentages last season, was not good tonight from the trey line, shooting 3 of 18 for 16.7 percent.
Other than that, Wellington played Bishop Miege tit-for-tat. The Crusaders had 30 rebounds to the Stags 23. Turnovers were about even with Wellington making two more 14-12.
The Crusaders end their season at 17-6 after starting the season at 2-3.
Wellington will have starters return and have a great nucleus returning. But there is no denying losing Tayland French and Snipes will be huge losses.
Bishop Miege plays Circle tomorrow evening. Perhaps, with another first-round draw this Crusader team might have survived to see a full tournament.
