ELYRIA — Wellington’s 64-43 win over Independence on Friday night was a textbook victory, proving once again that quickness and shooting ability are more important than height in basketball.
The Blue Devils have one player 6-9 and another 6-5, but still were no match for Wellington, which has no player taller than 6-3, in a Division III sectional championship game at Elyria High.
The Dukes next play top-seeded Lutheran West on Tuesday at 8 p.m. in the district semifinal. West smoked Cuyahoga Heights in Friday’s second game.
Wellington (12-9) had a perfect game plan to counter its height disadvantage and followed it flawlessly.
“Their height was a real concern to us going in,” Wellington coach Tom Eibel said. “Every time this year that we’ve played against a big man we’ve had trouble. We scouted Independence several times and had a pretty good idea what they do. So this week in practice we put in a new offense, a spread to open up the floor more. Never in all my years of coaching have I ever used the spread. So when we went out on the floor tonight I was the most nervous guy in the gym.
“It worked to perfection against this team, bringing the big guys off the board and opening up things for us.”
Senior guard Chris Hueslman, who stands 6-1, was the big benefactor as time after time he broke through for layups, scoring a career-high 29 points. His previous high was 26 against Black River.
“They had no answer for Christopher,” Eibel said. “But just as amazing as our offense was our defense. It was great. This was a great, great win for us.”
“We had to change our strategy a lot because of their height,” Huelsman said. “We all came to Wednesday’s game when Independence beat Trinity. We kind of knew what to do tonight. We put in the offense just this week in practice. I’d say it worked pretty good. Most of our points came on layups (20 of their 30 field goals came on shots within 2 feet of the basket).”
Independence coach Al Bogigian had plenty of praise for Wellington.
“They’re really good because they play well together,” he said. “It’s proof that it’s more a game of fundamental skills and spacing than height. They simply outquicked us and made us work harder inside. It’s hard to simulate their kind of offense in practice.”
Because of all the layups, Wellington shot a sizzling 55 percent from the field to lead most of the game against the Blue Devils (10-12), who shot a decent 43 percent themselves. The Dukes were also solid handling the ball, turning the ball over just seven turnovers while the Blue Devils committed 19.
The only advantage for Independence was in rebounding as it led Wellington 33-27. Matt Grendel (6-5) led the Blue Devils with 20 points and seven rebounds. Mike Cashin (6-9), was held to six points and six rebounds even though he had the first four rebounds for Independence as it jumped out to a brief 8-7 lead. But Huelsman’s short jumper from the side put the Dukes up for good 9-8.
An oddity of the game was at the free throw line.  Neither team connected on a foul shot until Independence sank one with 4:28 left in the third quarter. Wellington’s lone free throw came with 7:25 left in the fourth quarter.
Contact Jerry Rombach at 329-7137 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.

Wellington 64, Independence 43

INDEPENDENCE (43)—Matt Grendel 9-2-20, Dan Zuber 4-0-11, Mike Cashin 3-0-6, Eric Mathews 2-1-5, Evan Lentz 0-1-1, Tony Carsel 0-0-0. Erik Jendro 0-0-0, Paul Cichocko 0-0-0,  Sean Dockery 0-0-0,  Jon Moore 0-0-0. Totals 18-4-43.
WELLINGTON (64)—Chris Huelsman 14-1-29, Cory Kidd 5-0-11, Brandon Schmidt 4-0-8, Blake Sword 4-0-8, Kenny Natterer 2-0-6, Erick Saunders 1-0-2, Keith Smith 0-0-0,  Mark Calhoun 0-0-0,  Kyle Bartolovich 0-0-0,  Justin Kidd 0-0-0. Totals 30-1-64.
Independence    13    8    17    5    —    43
Wellington        18    12    23    11    —    64
Three point plays—Independence 3 of 6 (Zuber 3), Wellington 3 of 7 (Natterer 2, Cory Kidd); Field goals—Independence 18 of 41 (43 percent), Wellington 30 of 55 (54 percent); Free throws—Independence 4 of 10, Wellington 1 of 5; Rebounds—Independence 33 (Grendel 7, Cashin 6), Wellington 27 (Huelsman 4, Natterer 4, Sword 3); Turnovers—Independence 19, Wellington 7; Fouls—Independence 10, Wellington 13.

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