Dru Zeka getting consoled by her parents after semifinal loss to Topeka Hayden.

By Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — This one is going to hurt. But there is only one state champion.

The Wellington girls lost to Topeka Hayden 50-45 in the semifinals. A Sophie Wichman 3-pointer on the left perimeter with 37 seconds doomed the Crusaders. Wellington failed to get a similar 3-pointer on the other end. Hayden then shot 4-of-6 free throws to clinch the victory.

“Got to give Hayden credit for setting up that play,” said Eric Adams, Wellington head girls basketball coach. “We didn’t get a hand to her face in time.”

Dru Zeka scores 20 points for Wellington vs. Topeka Hayden including this basket in the third quarter.

With 1:21 to play, Wellington was leading by three and had the ball. But then things began to unravel. The Crusaders had a turnover, and Hayden hit 1-of-2 free throws. Then, after taking the ball to the hoop with 56 seconds, three shots failed to fall, before Dru Zeka was sent to the line.

She missed both free throws, which set up the Wichman 3-pointer. Her sinker gave the Wildcats a one-point lead. Cruz Cornejo missed the three with 22 seconds left, and Topeka Hayden came out with the victory.

Wellington will now play for third place tomorrow. Game time is at 10:30 a.m.

“It was heartbreaking going inside the locker room,” Adams said. “These girls are hurting. But to come back from a double-digit deficit as they did just shows what kind of team this team has.”

This was such a high-voltage game from the start. Unlike the first state game with Concordia on Tuesday, Wellington immediately set the tone, taking a 5-0 lead. But Hayden, led by Hailey Schmidtlien, a sophomore who averages 17 points per game, was going to be a problem.

Cruz Cornejo on defense vs. Topeka Hayden.

The Crusaders’ short-lived 8-4 lead turned into an 11-8 deficit at the end of the first quarter. It soon became a 10-point deficit with 2:01 in the second.

The final two minutes were huge because Wellington managed to cut the deficit to six on a Cornejo layup and a Kirstyn Gregory jumper thereafter. It was 25-19 at the half.

Wellington then captured the momentum in the third and took its first lead of the second half at the 4:04 mark on a Lyndi Barton jumper. It was 36-33 going into the fourth, Wellington.

But Hayden went on a seven-point run to lead 40-36. It was 42-37 at the 5:39 mark. Zeka, who had an outstanding state tournament, would then hit a deuce following Gregory free throws. She then stole the ball in the backcourt and eventually scored another deuce. It was 45-42 Crusaders with 2:18 to play.

While Wellington was ice cold down the stretch, Hayden wasn’t exactly on fire either. The Wildcats were 4-of-16 from the field in the fourth quarter. Wellington was fortunate to be in the game in the final minute with the number of rim shots Hayden was missing.

Wellington fans were again in full force in Hutchinson.

“We knew going in that we were going to have a disadvantage inside the paint because they do such a good job crashing the boards,” Adams said. “I thought we did very well on that.”

With a game like this, there are so many ways to look at it. But these teams stats were so similar.

•Wellington shot 35.4 percent from the field. Hayden shot 29 percent.

•Wellington had 40 rebounds, Hayden had 41.

•Both teams had their struggles from the foul line. Wellington was 9-of-17 (5-of-10 in the fourth quarter). Hayden was 8-of-13.

• Turnover-wise, Wellington made 21 of them. Hayden had 16.

In the end, it came down to a 3-pointer. Wichman nailed it.

Stats can be found here.