Wellington wins second straight Cheney Tournament.

By Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — The Wellington girls survived a tenacious Cheney defensive onslaught, winning 45-43 in a game that wasn’t decided until a missed Cardinal three-point shot at the buzzer. The Crusaders were crowned Cheney Tournament Champions and are now 4-0.

There will be no rest for the No. 1-ranked Crusaders as they open league play on Tuesday, hosting Collegiate. Andale is looming next Friday. The Indians are currently ranked No. 5 in the Class 4A poll of the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association. This game will be huge in determining how the AV-CTL DIV race will go for the rest of the year.

Dru Zeka with the assist early in the third quarter

It seems there is always plenty of drama when Wellington travels to Cheney for its annual preseason tournament. Two years ago, Cheney handed Wellington its only regular-season loss on its home gym floor. Last year, Wellington won in a game that saw the loss of starter Kylan Gregory. This year it was the game that came down to the final second.

Speaking of which, Ky. Gregory was on the sidelines, awaiting word on her “other” knee. It was incorrectly reported that she reinjured her left knee in the previous game vs. Pratt. She actually injured her right knee. The extent of her most recent injury is unknown.

On the court, Wellington could not shake the Cardinals, who played a tremendous defensive game against the Crusaders. At one point, Wellington led by 12, 33-21, early in the third quarter after two quick scores from Crusaders Dru Zeka and Lyndi Barton to start the second half.

But Cheney’s defense stifled the Crusaders the rest of the way, allowing just five more field goals.

“They really changed up a lot of defenses on us; sometimes going with a 1-3-2, then a 3-2, then man,” said Eric Adams, Wellington head coach. “We knew we had to go to the rim if we were going to be successful against them.”

Injured Kylan Gregory with Claire Ginter looks on during a timeout.

Wellington, which is known for hitting three-pointers, only got two of them in this game. The Crusaders had better luck getting inside bankers from Barton, who led the team with 16.

The Crusaders had one of their worst performances at the free-throw line in years, going 5 of 13 for the game. In the final minutes, their free-throw shooting kept Cheney in the game, as much as the tenacious Cardinal offense. Barton struggled mightily at the line, going 0-for-6 for the game, missing four in the final 60 seconds. Wellington was 1-of-5 at the charity stripe in the last minute.

Wellington opened with a very good offensive output – doubling Cheney’s production to take an 18-9 lead. It would be a lead they needed for the final three quarters. Cheney outscored Wellington in all three quarters thereafter.

Cruz Cornejo looks for the deuce vs. Cheney.

The Crusaders led 29-21 at the half. After opening it up by 12, Cheney would outscore the Lady Dukes 15-4 for the next eight minutes and was trailing 36-35 with 5:19 to play. That set up a very tense five-minute sequence. Zeka got a nice assist to Barton to make it 40-36 with 2:50 to play. The two teams then exchanged layups, and it was 42-40 with 1 minute left.

A Zeka free throw upped it to 43-40, and then Raegan Black buried a three-pointer, shooting it from somewhere in Kingman. With the game tied at 43, Zeka got a giant deuce to make it 45-43. Cheney was fruitless on its next possession, and the Wellington got the rebound, sending Barton to the line. She missed both free throws and Cheney with 3.6 seconds left, hurriedly attempted a three-point buzzer-beater, but it was way off.

Black led all scorers with 18 points. She was the lone Cardinal in double figures.

Wellington 45 Cheney 43

Wellington —  18   11    8   8 —  45
Cheney —           9  12   11   11 — 43
Wellington: Barton 16, Zeka 11, Wright 5, Cornejo 2, Kir. Gregory 11. Total 17 (2) 5-13 45. Cheney: Black 18, Inslee 9, McDorman 4, Scheck 4. Total: 10 (6) 5-11 43.