Wellington’s long-awaited state tournament trip excites the town

Nearly everyone with ties to Wellington basketball has something to say about the Crusaders’ return to the state tournament after a 58-year absence, and they’re saying it to one another.

Darin Miller, who played for Wellington in the early-1990s before a career at Wichita State, went to school with the mother of current Crusader Trevor Nance, and Miller offers his congratulations to other Wellington parents he knows.

Jesse Cornejo, another 1990s Wellington player along with his brother Nate, was one of several Wellington residents to text coach Brian Buchanan after his team defeated Rose Hill in Saturday’s Class 4A-Division I sub-state championship.

Lori Phelps has two sons, Connor and Cade, who play for Wellington. Her dad, Bob Goodrum, played for the Crusaders’ B-team in 1957, when Wellington last played at state. Goodrum died in 2006.

“My mom (Judy Goodrum) was the one who had the yearbooks available, and so we just got those out over the weekend when we realized they were going to go to the state tournament,” said Phelps, a teacher at Wellington. “It’s very cool. We’ll have a lot of people there.”

Community connection

Phelps said Wellington administration is considering a half-day schedule on Wednesday so students and teachers can get to Salina in time for the Crusaders’ 3 p.m. start against Basehor-Linwood (22-0).

A Wednesday win would mean Wellington (12-10) plays again on Friday, the first day of spring break, so a larger contingent could attend.

Those who don’t get to experience Wellington’s first state basketball game in 58 years will still be talking about it, as they did throughout the weekend. In the town of about 8,000, just about everyone has a link to high school basketball and to one another.

Jesse Cornejo lives on the same street as AJ Snipes, a Wellington freshman, and he played against Buchanan when the Crusaders’ coach went to Goddard.

“I’ve watched him (Snipes) since he was a little kid out in the driveway dribbling the basketball,” Cornejo said. “Seeing how hard he’s worked, now that they’re going to state, it’s pretty exciting.”

Buchanan has heard from many of the 8,000.

“It’s been a blast,” Buchanan said. “With the job I have as (athletic director), I usually have to charge the phone one extra time during the day. Over the weekend, it’s been a couple times that I’ve had to, just to respond to the phone calls, the texts, the e-mails. So many people are so excited for the guys.”

Past stars

Ernie Barrett, a Kansas State basketball legend who played two seasons in the NBA, was the star for the 1947 Wellington team that won the state championship. Wellington went back to the state tournament for two of the next three seasons, and again in 1957, but that was it for more than a half-century.

The Crusaders have had plenty of recognizable names since then, and many have a story about coming close to a tournament appearance.

Miller was vexed by Goddard, which ended the Crusaders’ season with a 1993 sub-state win, its fourth against Wellington that season.

Jesse Cornejo’s nemesis was Kingman, which ousted Wellington from the postseason during one of his years. Mardie Cornejo, Jesse and Nate’s father, lost a heartbreaker to Wichita Southeast in a late-1960s regional.

“We were ahead by eight points with about a minute and a half left,” Mardie Cornejo said. “Our mistake was we went into a stall and got beat by two on a last-second shot.”

The current Crusaders are playing for not only their most accomplished predecessors like the three Cornejos who played professional baseball (Mardie and Nate in the major leagues) or Division I athletes such as Miller, but for all the Wellington teams that came up just short of state.

“I think about them sometimes,” Nance said. “I think about going out and representing them well.”

A basketball town

Wellington’s most recent state championships, and much of its athletic identity, have come from baseball, wrestling and football, which won Class 4A in 2001 and 2002.

“They focus so much there on football – it’s a big deal in Wellington,” Miller said. “When basketball comes, it’s sometimes in between sports, in between football and baseball. When you haven’t had the success repeatedly, you don’t expect a lot.”

Recently, though, basketball has become more prevalent. Youth programs that were non-existent when Miller and the younger Cornejos were growing up have made basketball players out of those who once may have turned to football or wrestling.

The dividends are becoming apparent. Nance, a senior, has developed into an excellent player but freshmen such as Snipes are arriving as more finished products ready to contribute immediately.

“There’s so many of these kids that play Biddy Basketball here through the (rec center), or some of them get a team together and go play at the Y,” Jesse Cornejo said. “That kind of stuff wasn’t going on when I was a kid. I can’t believe how many kids are playing basketball starting at an early age.”

Current crop

Wellington’s 12-10 record was its first time above .500 since three straight winning seasons from 2006-08. The Crusaders have played their best in February and March, with close defeats against Collegiate and Andale, and several double-digit victories.

During the current streak, Wellington set a goal to decorate its gymnasium.

“We only have three (basketball banners) up there right now,” senior guard Colin Reichenberger said. “We’re hoping to get more.”

The Crusaders’ balance may lead them toward that benchmark. Nance is a near-automatic double-double, averaging 18.9 points and 9.7 rebounds, and he has scored in double figures every game.

He’s supplemented by Ian King and Snipes, who have combined to average nearly 18 points, and by Connor Phelps, who Buchanan calls and unsung leader.

While the rest of Wellington looks for a way to get to Salina for an early-afternoon game on Wednesday, Buchanan and the Crusaders will be enjoying an accomplishment current and future residents may still talk about in 58 years.

“We’ll always remember these guys,” said Buchanan, Wellington’s 12th-year coach. “They’re the ones that were finally able to overcome the hump and get to the point where everyone wants to get to, to have that opportunity to play for state championships.”

This story was originally published March 10, 2015 at 10:23 AM with the headline "Wellington’s long-awaited state tournament trip excites the town."