Wellington takes control of the AV-CTL DIV with 44-34 victory over Andale
Valerie Norwood scores 18 points against Andale.
by Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — The Wellington girls did not disappoint. In front of a packed house with media from across the region watching, No. 4 Wellington defeated No. 6 Andale 44-34. With the victory comes the Ark Valley Chisholm Trail League Div. IV lead.
This Saturday morning, Wellington is 10-0 and 5-0 in the AV-CTL DIV. The Crusaders won’t see action again until the Mulvane Tournament in 10 days.
Unlike the first nine games, this was a grinder. Like Wellington, Andale came into the contest undefeated and basically dismantled its competition with relative ease other than an overtime victory over Clearwater in December. It would not let Wellington get off a win easily.
Britt Zeka at the free throw line late in the fourth quarter.
“We needed a game like this,” said Eric Adams, Wellington’s head girls’ basketball coach. “Andale is a tough senior-laden team athletic team. For our young team to go out there and beat them says a lot about the character of this team.”
Outside the very early stage of the first quarter, Andale never led. But it sure darn well tried. Star Indian forward McKenzie Fairchild went down with an ankle injury very early and would not play for the final 30 minutes. Did it affect the game? Adams didn’t think so.
“We had a game plan on how to guard her,” Adams said. “I’ll give Andale all the credit in the world; when she went down, the rest of the team picked it up a notch. I hope she is OK.”
Wellington and Andale made this a game of defensive will. Crusaders, known for spreading the floor and shooting 3-pointers, were not getting any of that Friday. At the end of the first quarter, they were clutching to a 11-5 lead thanks to sophomore Valerie Norwood accounting for nine of those points.
Early in the second, Britt Zeka nailed the first of her three 3-pointers to up the lead to 18-9. At that point, Wellington had that look that it would sprint away, much like did with Clearwater a week ago. But Andale held tough, pulling within five. Adams started going with a younger lineup as fouls were piling up on the starters.
Freshman Cruz Cornejo gets a deuce midway through the second, providing valuable relief off the bench.
“I also knew it was going to be a long ball game,” Adams said. “We tried to play the speed and had girls off the bench that could do that.”
At the half, Ashlyn Gerten’s buzzer-beating deuce gave the Crusaders a 25-16 lead.
Wellington would outscore Andale 10-8 in the third quarter to get up by double digits.
But in the fourth, Andale kept hanging around and, near the three-minute mark was within six with the ball. Andale would miss a couple of critical layups, but Wellington wasn’t converting on the other end either. Neither team was tearing it up at the charity stripe, especially late. Wellington did finish 12-of-18 with free throws while Andale was 11-of-25.
Finally, Wellington clinched the game with four consecutive free throws in the final minute.
This marked Wellington’s 34th consecutive regular-season win and third straight against Andale.
Norwood led Wellington with 18 points, while Zeka finished with 14. Interesting stat, Andale had no girls in double figures. That marks the second consecutive game that has happened.
Wellington 44 Andale 34
Andale — 5 11 8 10 — 34
Wellington — 11 14 10 9 — 44
Andale: Schrandt 9, Kerschen 6, Seiler 6, Knepker 5, Winter 4, Oth 2, Fairchild 2. Total: 10 (1) 11-25 34. Wellington: Norwood 18, Zeka 14, Gerten 4, Gregory 4, Cornejo 2, Reichenberger 2. Total: 10 (4) 12-18 44.
