Wellington eventually rolls to sub-state victory

by Tracy McCue 

And Monday's first round sub-state game is example A why seeding is so important in post season play. 

No. 3 seed Wellington triumphed as expectedly against 2-19 Wichita Trinity Monday evening with a convincing 60-44 win. 

But would this story be written differently had Wellington played a tougher, higher seeded opponent?  

"We really can't kid ourselves," said Kevin Hackerott, Wellington girls basketball coach. "We have to play much, much better against Rose Hill if we want to have any chance of winning Thursday." 

But a win is a win and Wellington advanced to the second round where it will play Rose Hill at Maize South. 

The Crusaders, who have had a trend of playing up and down to their opponents were consistent with that method letting Wichita Trinity scare them for awhile.

Wellington trailed throughout the first quarter down by six at one point, 11-5 and 13-10 at quarter's end. It wasn't until midway through the second quarter when Dani Anderson hit a trey and Ashlyn Whaley followed with a layup and free throw thereafter that the Crusaders found their groove. 

Crusaders would then go on a 9-4 run and took a 28-23 lead into the locker room, despite a last-second field goal by the Knights to end the half.  

Then in the third quarter, Wellington took control outscoring the Knights 18-7 in the third and going on to its biggest win differential of the season. 

All but one of the girls in the varsity lineup scored. Dani Anderson led all scorers with 19 points. Sarah Amrein had 11. 

Wellington was having trouble shooting early. The Dukes was 3-16 in the first quarter and 5-24 midway through the second quarter. 

But the Dukes eventually found the bucket and did a good job exposing Wichita Trinity inside. In the third quarter, Wellington was 8-of-13 from the field. 

Defensively, Wellington won the turnover department. But was also getting out rebounded. 

"I thought we played atrocious defense tonight - the worst of the season," Hackerott said. "We were getting out rebounded by girls who were 5-2 and 5-3.

"Once we started playing the kind of defense we are accustomed to playing we really kicked it in gear."

The third quarter left fans wondering why Wellington struggled in the first half. 

The Dukes gave up a 3-pointer to start the half and still led 30-26. Then Wellington would go on a 16-4 run. Every girl was seeing playing time.

The fourth quarter saw most of the bench come in and play. Erma Barnes had a nice performance with 5 points. Freshmen like Savannah Cornejo and Kailey Jenkins along with seniors Derian Weber, Cassie Wiley and Taylor Leatherwood were getting good quality minutes. 

For the game Wellington finished with 17 deuces with 4 treys. The free throws were iffy with Wellington going 14 of 23. 

"Free throws are a psychological thing," Hackerott said. "We just need to get back to making them on a more consistent basis." 

The win improves Wellington to 12-9. And Rose Hill is looming, Thursday. 

Wellington 60 Wichita Trinity 43

Wellington 10   18   18  14 — 60 

Wichita Trinity 13   10    7   13 — 44

Wichita Trinity: Coleman 8, Schwertfeger 7, Manning 9, Reusser 8, Huffman 2, Crew 2, Lewallen 5, Blankenship 3. Total 16 (3) 4-10 43. 

Wellington: S. Cornejo 2, Jenkins 2, Weber 7, Whaley 5, Barnes 5, Amrein 11, Adams 2, Becker 2, Wiley 2, Leatherwood 2, Anderson 19. Total 17 (4) 14-23 60.