Wellington head boys basketball coach Brian Buchanan said a coach from another school told him the best way to beat Andover Central was hope that a lot of the team is sick that night.
Not sure if any of the Jaguars were sick Tuesday night, but Wellington did give the No. 5 ranked in Class 5A Jaguars a good game nevertheless. Andover Central would beat Wellington, 54-40 at Crusader gymnasium.
There's no doubt Andover Central has talent. The Crusaders haven't seen a team that can play above the rim quite like the 10-2 Jags.
Or for that matter, find a way to feed the ball inside as quickly as the Jags.
Or for that matter, substitute a group of starters for another group off the bench with little drop off in talent as the Jags.
Andover Central had eight players score Tuesday, two of them in double figures.
But despite Andover Central's advantages, Wellington held tough, and not relinquish a double-digit win until the two minute mark of the fourth quarter when Jags’ Boston Stiverson came flying in for a layup off the steal and free throw thereafter.
The game may be remembered more for Wellington sophomore Levi Gurley's coming out party. He scored 20 points, including 8 in the second quarter and 10 in the third.
It looked ugly for awhile. Andover Central built an 8-2 first quarter lead and held a 14-8 advantage at the end of the quarter.
The Crusaders would temporarily fall behind by double digits in the second quarter.
One could feel that dread ensuing amongst Wellington fans that things could get ugly.
But it didn’t turn out to be the case. Before the half, Wellignton pulled back within nine, 29-20, thanks to a Gurley 3-pointer and Trey Vargas banker before the half.
Gurley was just getting hot.
Andover Central would build the lead back to 15, 41-26, before he drilled an 18-footer followed by a layup. Wellington was back within 10, 41-31 at the end of the third.
Another Gurley deuce was followed by a Jordan Edwards 8-footer.
And when Levi Anderson made a layup off the steal, Wellington had whittled this lead to 45-39 with 3:40 to play in the game.
The Jaguars then implemented a sprawling stall in an effort to cool off the suddenly hot Dukes.
But the strategy backfired when they threw the ball away with 3:13 to play.
Wellington, though, failed to capitalize by committing a turnover on the next possession.
That setup another Andover Central score, and Stiverson layup thereafter.
With the loss, Wellington falls to 4-10. The Crusaders will not travel to Andover for another non-league affair.
The Trojans are 5-7 and 2-2 in the AV-CTL Div. IV.
Andover Central 54 Wellington 40
Andover Central 14 15 12 13 — 54
Wellington 8 12 11 9 — 40
Andover Central: Gentry 5, McWhorter 3, Anderson 4, Miller 12, Vautravers 11, Lock 2, Wilks 8, Stiverson 9. Totals 20 (2) 12-18 54. Wellington: Gurley 20, Anderson 4, Janney 1, Jo. Edwards 6, Jenkins 2, Vargas 7. Totals 16 (2) 6-17 40.
Wellington, Kan. —
