Girls Basketball: Vermilion outscores Wellington 29-5 in first quarter and rolls to win in regular-season finale

VERMILION — The Sailors are ready for the postseason. Vermilion wrapped up the regular season Wednesday with a 61-24 non-conference Senior Night win against struggling Wellington. The Sailors finished 13-9 with four straight wins. Next up for No. 5 seed Vermilion is a home playoff date with the No. 6 Millbury Lake Flyers (12-9), setting up an intriguing first-round matchup in the Northwest 2 Division IV bracket. The Dukes briefly led 3-2 following a 3-pointer by Caedyn Wacker, but from that point it was all Sailors for the first period, as the defense forced 13 turnovers while going on a 17-0 run to finish the quarter with a commanding 29-5 lead. Wacker led the Dukes in scoring with 11. Vermilion sophomore Morgan Frenk did most of the damage for the Sailors in the opening eight minutes of play, scoring 14 of her game-high 19 points to go along with 11 rebounds. Senior Jocelyn Alvarado scored six, Jazlyn Rayl scored five, including a 3-pointer, and senior Abby Gawry dropped in three during the first-period eruption. As easy as it was for Vermilion to score in the first quarter, the Sailors struggled mightily in the second, hitting just 2 of 14 (14 percent) from the floor and just 3 of 13 (23 percent) from the free throw line as the Dukes outscored Vermilion 8-7. Freshman Shelby Gallion scored three, with Briella Karkoff dropping in a pair of free throws and sophomore Camryn Stump adding a late 3-pointer to make up the quarter for Wellington (1-20). "For us, that second quarter wasn't baby steps, it was huge steps," Dukes coach John McDermott said. "I saw things in that period that we've been trying to get the girls to do all year long. "The light is going on for these girls who are mostly freshmen and sophomores, they have worked hard all year and haven't given up on the floor. We played well defensively, but there is only so much you can do with seven girls on the team." The Sailors got their mojo back to start the second half, scoring the first 11 points, with Emma Gebhardt netting a pair of buckets in the paint, Frenk adding another three points to go along with single baskets from Rayla and Alvarado to push the lead to 47-13. Katie Stennard ended the Vermilion run with a putback bucket, and Stump later added the only other Dukes field goal in the third with a 3-pointer. "The one thing we didn't want to do late in the season was get lazy," Sailors coach Doug Mihalic said. "It's one thing to practice hard, but getting out there to face another varsity team keeps you going. "We got to play a lot of girls tonight that are the future of our program, a lot of them stepped up and contributed to the win." Contact James Brady at jbrady_ct@yahoo.com. Vermilion 61, Wellington 24 WELLINGTON (24): Caedyn Wacker 4-2-11, Katie Stannard 1-0-2, Camryn Stump 2-0-6, Kaylah Karkoff 0-0-0, Briella Karkoff 0-2-2, Shelby Gallion 1-1-3. Totals 8-5-24. VERMILION (61): Kate Smith 0-0-0, Sofia Schaffer 0-0-0, Kara Russell 0-1-1, Jazlyn Rayl 5-2-13, Emma Gebhardt 2-0-4, Abby Gawry 4-1-9, Joscelyn Alvarado 4-3-12, Morgan Frenk 9-1-19, Maggie Falknor 1-1-3, Cassie Caffarel 0-0-0. Totals 25-9-61. Wellington&emsp;5&emsp;8&emsp;5&emsp;6&emsp;—&emsp;24 Vermilion&emsp;29&emsp;7&emsp;17&emsp;8&emsp;—&emsp;61 Three-point goals: Wellington 3-7 (43 percent, Stump 2, Wacker), Vermilion 2-10 (20 percent, Rayl, Alvarado); Field goals: Wellington 8-26 (31 percent); Vermilion 25-56 (45 percent); Free throws: Wellington 5-12 (42 percent); Vermilion 9-25 (36 percent); Rebounds: Wellington 28, Vermilion 34; Turnovers: Wellington 31, Vermilion 12; Fouled Out: None Junior varsity: Vermilion, 23-19.