Wellington stays perfect, wins low scoring contest over McPherson

SALINA, Kan. (Catch it Kansas) - The game was anything but pretty, but in the end Wellington continued its dream season Wednesday with a 33-29 win over McPherson to open the 4A state tournament.

With the win the Crusaders improve to 23-0 for the season.

The early going saw both teams struggle to get anything going; the Crusaders were held to just two points in the first quarter, but started to find somewhat of a grove early in the second. But the offenses remained stagnant, Wellington shooting 4 of 27 and McPherson 3 of 13 in the opening two quarters. But where the offenses slowed the defensive play was strong, with Wellington forcing Mac into 18 first half turnovers.

Wellington carried a two point lead to the break, then went on their best run of the game, hitting three straight shots to get the lead out to 8. The Pups however cut the lead in half late in the quarter to get it back to a 25-21 deficit.

The fourth quarter saw the Bullpups dominate the foul shooting, ultimately seeing them score 5 straight to tie things up at 29 with 40 seconds to play. But the ensuing possession ended with Airalyn Frame getting fouled on a put back attempt, hitting both foul shots and closing the game out from there.

Wellington was held to 20% shooting for the game, but Mac ended at just 21% themselves, also going 13 of 26 from the line. The Crusaders’ Valerie Norwood scored a game best 14, while Ali Zeka added 11 before fouling out midway through the fourth. Lauren Labertew led the Bullpups with 11, who ended their season with a 15-8 mark.

Wellington is now set to take on two-time defending state champion Bishop Miege in Friday’s semifinals.

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