Wellington’s Lyndi Barton scored 32 vs. El Dorado in the final regular-season game. Now the postseason begins. 

Correction – We have re-analyzed the Class 4A girls bracket. In the original version, we speculated that Wellington would be playing Bishop Miege in the first round. This is not the case if everything goes according to plan.

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By Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — The Wellington boys and girls basketball teams finished their regular season with victories against El Dorado on senior night. They then officially heard of their post-season designations on Saturday.

The Kansas State High School Activities Association released its sub-state tournament brackets this weekend. To the surprise of nobody, Wellington will be the No. 1 seed in the Class 4A-West for the fifth consecutive year.

The 20-1 Crusaders will open with No. 16 Abilene, which is struggling at 4-17. The first-round contest will be played on Tuesday at home at 6 p.m. The winner will then play the winner of #8 McPherson (13-10) vs. Buhler (11-12) for the sub-state championship on Friday at 6 p.m.

The 4A West first round matchup is as follows (higher seeds are at home):

#1 Wellington (20-1) vs. #16 Abilene (4-17)
#8 McPherson (13-10) vs. #9 Buhler (11-12)
#4 Chapman (14-9) vs. #13 Rose Hill (7-16)
#5 Mulvane (14-9) vs. #12 Pratt (7-16)
#2 Clearwater (16-6) vs. #15 Augusta (5-18)
#7 Concordia (12-9) vs. #10 Circle (10-13)
#3 Andale (15-6) vs. #14 Clay Center (5-15)
#6 Hugoton (14-9) vs. #11 El Dorado (8-15)

In case you are wondering, in the Class 4A East:
#1 Rock Creek (20-3) vs. #16 Parsons (6-17)
#8 Fort Scott (15-7) vs. #9 Tonganoxie (15-8)
#2 Wamego (19-3) vs. #15 Labette County (8-15)
#7 Santa Fe Trail (16-7) vs. #10 Bishop Miege (15-8)
#3 Eudora (19-3) vs. #14 Louisburg (8-15)
#6 Ottawa (16-7) vs. #11 Chanute (13-9)
#4 Independence (18-4) vs. #13 Baldwin (10-13)
#5 Topeka Hayden (17-6) vs. #12 Atchson (13-10).

Analysis: In the original version of this story, we did a deep dive analysis where Bishop Miege could be Wellington’s opponent in the first round of the state tournament. An astute reader pointed out that there is a Class 4A-West sub-state tournament in which every team has nine or more losses, which yours truly missed. Therefore, if Bishop Miege wins the Wamego sub-state, it would be the No. 7 seed. Wellington, if it takes care of business in sub-state, will be the No. 1 seed and will play the No. 8 seed coming out of the sub-state with Mulvan, Chapman, Rose Hill and Pratt in the state’s first round.

Dru Zeka finds a bevy of Wamego defenders in a late January game in Wichita.

Pity Wamego, a team it beat by four points in January in Wichita. The Red Raiders are stuck with Bishop Miege in their sub-state. That sub-state is huge as Wamego will likely host Bishop Miege in the sub-state championship game. Crazily, either Wamego or Bishop Miege won’t even get to state.

The state tournament first-round state game will probably be in Wichita. The locales are different this season. Wellington will not be playing in the Tony Pizza Center in Salina this season (Yay!). We will explain later.

Jason Golden, a senior, will be part of Wellington’s bid to score at least one upset in the postseason.

The Wellington boys have a much simpler path. They will be the underdog in every game they play. It doesn’t matter what path they take, it will be tough.

Wellington will travel to Pratt at 6 p.m. on Wednesday. If it pulls off the upset, it will then travel to either #8 Clay Center (11-9) or #9 Mulvane (12-11). Wellington has played Mulvane twice already, and although the Wildcats won easily in both, it’s a team the Crusaders could play with. Wellington boys getting to state this year? Crazier things have happened… we think.

Here’s the 4A-West Bracket:

#1 Pratt (19-3) vs. #16 Wellington (5-16)
#8 Clay Center (11-9) vs. #9 Mulvane (12-11)
#4 Andale (16-5) vs. #13 Circle (7-16)
#5 Augusta (15-8) vs. #12 Winfield (9-14)
#2 Hugoton (19-4) vs. #15 El Dorado (6-17)
#7 Buhler (13-10) vs. #10 Rose Hill (11-12)
#3 Concordia (17-4) vs. #14 Abilene (6-15)
#6 McPherson (14-9) vs. #11 Ulysses (11-12)

Analysis: While Wellington’s path, no matter how you look at it, is daunting, the Crusaders may have done themselves a favor by not winning another game. Some people think Hugoton, the No. 2 seed, is the team to beat in the Class 4A West. El Dorado, a team Wellington just beat, gets that privilege going west with a 6-17 record.

Cruz Cornejo is being recognized on Senior Night by Coach Eric Adams, one of four seniors.

Wellington girls compete 20-1 season

With an extra game compared to last year, Wellington finished off a 20-win regular season for the first time since 2022 with a 61-39 victory over El Dorado Thursday night on senior night. At the conclusion of the game, a graphic displayed on the Wellington scoreboard read that these seniors were 87-6 over their four-year career. That’s a .915 winning percentage.

Wellington senior Lyndi Barton hit a career-high 32 points against El Dorado. She recorded 14 deuces inside with at least two per quarter.

Overall, though, it was kind of a blah game for the Crusaders, who had given up only four field goals in the previous two games. The much-improved El Dorado team trailed Wellington at the half, 28-20.

Wellington opened the third quarter with a trey by Dru Zeka, and two buckets by Barton made it 35-20, and the Crusaders were fine the rest of the way. This marked the first time since that road Andale game that Wellington did not have a running clock in the fourth quarter.

Jenna Hadley led El Dorado with 21 points.

Wellington 61 El Dorado 39
El Dorado —     6  14  11    8 — 39
Wellington — 18  10  19  14 — 61
Scoring: El Dorado: Hadley 21, Wight 5, Morgan 4, Parker 3, Hull 3, Bressler 3. Total: 10 (5) 4-12 39. Wellington: Barton 32, Zeka 11, Wright 9, Ginter 3, Cornejo 2, Schnelle 1, Kir. Gregory 2, Kin. Gregory 1. Total: 22 (1) 14-17 61.

Milo Elder, playing his final home game in Wellington, sees many Wildcat defenders in the paint.

Wellington boys on two-game winning streak

The Crusader boys had a good week, earning two wins to wrap up the regular season. On Thursday, it defeated El Dorado 51-45.

Wellington avenged an earlier loss to El Dorado, and this was its first 4A non-Clearwater victory.

This game will be remembered for one incredible shot. With Wellington clutching to a 48-45 lead and three seconds left on the 35-second shot clock with 20 seconds to play, the ball was fed into Cole Zeka at the top of the key.

Facing a double team, Zeka shot the ball over two defenders, and it went in. Wellington held a six-point lead the rest of the way.

Zeka ended the game as Wellington’s leading scorer with 14 points. Cooper Hatfield had 11. El Dorado was led by William Lechtenberg with 20.

Wellington head coach Joe Newman states:

“Our seniors have poured a lot into this program, and tonight was a great reflection of who they are; tough, resilient, and team-first. El Dorado challenged us every possession, but our guys trusted each other, made big plays when it mattered, and found a way to finish. I couldn’t be happier for them to walk off their home floor with a win.”

Wellington 51 El Dorado 45
El Dorado —   13    8    4   19 — 45
Wellington —   9  15    9.  18 — 51
Scoring: El Dorado: Lechtenberg 20, Weight 10, Sheffler 4, Lucero 2. Total: 12 (5) 6-13 45. Wellington: Zkea 14, Hatfield 11, M. Elder 7, Shinliver 7, Golden 5, Newman 5, Darby 2. Total: 22 (1) 14-17 61.