Valerie Norwood scored 12 points for Wellington in Cheney Tournament finals.

Wellington girls win second straight Cheney Tournament Championship. (Click to enlarge)

by Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — It seemed like a formality Saturday. Wellington destroyed Chaparral 64-27 to secure its second consecutive Cheney Tournament Championship. Wellington is now 4-0 heading into Ark Valley Chisholm Trail League Div. IV play.

The Crusaders will travel to Rose Hill Tuesday night.

This year, it was a lopsided bracket with the three-storied programs: Wellington, Cheney, and Pratt playing on one side of the round-robin and the smaller and more-struggling schools on the other. This was Wellington’s easiest win of the tournament. Wellington never trailed easily, distancing its Central Plains League opponent all three quarters.

The game was close for the first four minutes before Wellington went on a run to end the quarter leading 22-8. It matched Chaparral in the second with another 20-8 output making it 42-16 at the half. The Crusaders used plenty of substitutions in the third and still outscored the Roadrunners 16-2, setting up a running clock in the fourth.

Wellington had four girls in double figures. Britt  Zeka led the bunch with 19. Ashlyn Gerten had 13, Kylan Gregory 12, and Valerie Norwood 12. Haley Kangras led Chaparral with 10.

Wellington 64 Chaparral 27
Wellington —    22   20   16    6 — 64
Chaparral —      8      8     2     9 — 27
Wellington: Zeka 19, Gerten 13, Gregory 12, Norwood 12, Nance 4, Reichenberger 3, Wright 1. Total: 17 (9) 3-4 – 65. Chaparral: Kangas 10, Swingle 6, Kostens 4, Mizsak 2, Swartz 2. Total: 7 (4) 1-1 27.