Wellington girls stay perfect in comeback win at Circle

Wellington sophomore Avery Rusk’s free throw attempt was a bit short. The basketball hit the front of the rim, bounced to the back of the rim and then hit just under the lip of the front again before falling through the net.

The magnitude of the moment didn’t escape Rusk, who turned away from the basketball goal, clenching her fists in what was a mixture of joy and relief.

Her free throw, with 47.7 seconds to go, tied the score.

Rusk made four more free throws as Wellington came back from a 10-point deficit to beat Circle 51-47 and improve to 7-0 overall, 4-0 in AV-CTL IV. Circle is 5-2, 3-1.

“I honestly thought it would go out,” Rusk said of her first free throw. “… Once it fell in, I was perfectly fine.”

Before Rusk’s make — she had been fouled while on a fastbreak following a steal — Wellington was 0 for 4 from the line in the fourth quarter. The Crusaders finished 13 of 23 on free throws.

“As her coach, that’s who I want on the line,” Wellington coach Eric Adams said. “She can knock down free throws. When that one went down, I think the goal just opened up for her mentally.”

But Wellington’s need for a comeback frustrated Adams.

“We knew, Coach (Brian) Henry and Circle, (that) we have to come ready to go,” Adams said. “Unfortunately, it took our girls about three quarters to understand it. They outworked us for three quarters.”

While Wellington was a step slow offensively and defensively, Circle had no such problems.

The Thunderbirds used a scrappy, in-your-face zone defense and got the majority of the loose balls.

They broke the Wellington press midway through the opening quarter and got a basket in transition by Emily Dennison. It sparked a 13-2 run that was capped by Caylie Kifer’s steal and jumper for a 19-12 lead with 6:41 to go in the second period.

Kifer finished with a team-high 11 points; eight of nine Circle players scored.

Wellington took the lead at 23-21 late in the third and then 41-40 with 6:29 remaining. But each time Circle responded.

Circle led 47-43 with 1:58 to go, but Grace Mitchell answered with a deep three from the right wing to get within one.

“That’s what she can do,” Adams said of Mitchell, who has signed with Nebraska. “She can shoot over the defense.”

Mitchell scored 12 of her game-high 21 points in the fourth quarter, making all five field goal attempts, including two threes.

Circle committed three turnovers in the final 1:33, including on Rusk’s steal. With six seconds to go and trailing by three, Circle turned it over on a travel.

“I think we had some 30-40 second mental lapse stretches where we looked to force the ball offensively or just didn’t take care of it,” Henry said. “… We had one of our lapses at the end.”

Rusk responded with 5 of 6 free throws and finished with 12 points.

“I was so happy for her that, when it matters, she knocked them down,” Mitchell said. “She won the game for us.”

This story was originally published January 9, 2016 at 7:03 AM with the headline "Wellington girls stay perfect in comeback win at Circle."