Wellington girls are off to a good post-season start with easy win over Ulysses
Freshmen Dru Zeka and Kirstyn Gregory helped keep Ulysses to 12 points scoring for the night. (Photos by Katie Ford).
Sumner Newscow report — One thing about this year is the Wellington girls’ basketball team has gotten the western Kansas experience.
On Tuesday evening, Wellington defeated Ulysses 43-12 in the Class 4A sub-state first round. Now, the Crusaders will play Scott City, another western Kansas school, on Friday at 6 p.m. for the sub-state championship. Wellington has also played Goodland and participated in the Orange and Black Classic in Colby.
Call them the Western Crusaders.
The top-seed Crusaders had no trouble disposing of Ulysses, the #16 seed. The Tigers never made a basket until 10 minutes into the game.
Wellington didn’t have its best shooting night, but if you hold your opponent to 12 points, that seems secondary. The Crusaders opened with an 18-0 lead and were in front 35-5 at the half. The Tigers made just two shots.
Junior Britt Zeka had four treys in the game vs. Ulysses.
Wellington would score just eight points in the third and fourth quarters but was also allowed seven points on the floor. It was 43-7 going into a running-clock fourth quarter.
The biggest news was probably the return of Kylan Gregory, who made her sophomore debut after incurring an ACL tear in July. She played a limited number of minutes with a knee brace and did not score.
Kylan Gregory made her debut as a sophomore after suffering ACL tear in July. Her sister was there to greet her as she got on the court for the first time.
Britt Zeka led all scorers with 14 points. She nailed four 3-pointers in the game – all in the first half. Valerie Norwood followed with 12.
Now, the Crusaders will battle Scott City, which defeated Buhler 60-47. The Beavers could be a handful. The lost to Goodland by a mere 11 points on its regular season finale.
The Friday game should be good as the 20-1 Crusaders hope to get to their third consecutive state tournament in Salina. We need a good crowd there to help get these girls to state.
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Another good crowd for Wellington. We need an even bigger one on Friday night.
In other news, the Class 4A bracket offered few surprises. Clay Center did beat Mulvane 64-33. But Clay Center has a date with McPherson, the No. 2 team in the state in the Class 4A-West. Circle and Andale will be playing for a sub-state championship after the Indians eked out a 51-48 win over Chapman.
On the eastern side of the bracket, Bishop Miege destroyed Rock Creek 61-22. The most interesting score was Wamego nearly losing to #13 seed Chanute 47-43.
Wellington 43 Ulysses 12
Ulysses — 0 5 2 5 — 12
Wellington — 18 13 8 0 — 43
Ulysses: C. Curl 7, N. Sifientes 3, Y Yerma 2. Total 2 (2) 2-11 12. Wellington: B. Zeka 14, Norwood 10, L. Barton 9, D. Zeka 5, Cornejo 3, Ginter 2. Total: 9 (6) 7-8 43.
Not everyone got to see the Crusaders live. Peyton Spain and her two children watched their dad/grandpa Eric Adams and his team from their home in Topeka.
