Wellington girls suffer second regular-season loss in 3 years, losing to Cheney 54-45
Sumner Newscow report — The Wellington varsity girls basketball team lost its second regular-season game since 2021 when it fell to Cheney 54-45 in the first game of the Cheney Tournament.
In what was considered by many to be somewhat of a surprise, Cheney shot lights out, and the Wellington girls did not. That was really the story of the game. Wellington, without Kylan Gregory, their 6-foot starting center from a year ago due to injury, really struggled to find points in the paint. That led to a lot of 3-point shot attempts on the night.
Cheney played a tough 2-3 zone that even kept Wellington’s Val Norwood from having much success penetrating inside, which she normally is great at doing. Wellington’s other top scorer and best long-range shooter, Britt Zeka, was having a bit of a cold night, going 2 of 12 from the 3-point line.
Meanwhile, Cheney’s Raegan Ayres hit six long balls. It took the Lady Dukes a while to realize Ayres was the girl they needed to focus on defensively, and she made them pay. Cheney, coming off a state runner-up finish last year, was thought to be the underdog coming in, but they played with more intensity than Wellington in the first half behind their home crowd, as underdogs tend to do.
Statistically, Norwood led the team with 14 points. B. Zeka and freshman sister Dru Zeka each scored 10 points. Cruz Cornejo had 5, Lyndi Barton 4, and Kyndal Rusk 2.
D. Zeka, in just her second high school game, hit three 3-pointers in the second half sparking a Crusader comeback. Her third one last came with two minutes remaining and got the Crusaders within 2 points with just 2 minutes remaining.
But Cheney just couldn’t miss down the stretch and stretched the lead back to 10 on and 8-0 run to secure the victory.
This felt like a game that could serve as a great lesson for a team that’s only lost one regular season game in the last two seasons combined. If they use it as motivation, it could be a good thing in the long run, as this team has its eyes on a State Championship.
Wellington will try to get back on track Thursday night at home against Pratt. It’ll be interesting to see what adjustments they make, specifically with their offense. Then Saturday they finish up this tournament in Cheney.
