It had to be good to see Wayland senior guard Ali Cutler get well on the hardcourt again.

Cutler, the Wildcats’ leading scorer through the first five games, was held scoreless for at least a half against Grand Rapids Christian last month in the Cornerstone Tournament finals and she endured a horrible drought for three quarters in the ‘Cats awful loss to Byron Center.

But Cutler returned to customary form Friday night, scoring 19 points in the Lady Wildcats’ 54-32 cruise at home against Middleville, in a game that opened the O-K Gold seasons for both schools.

The win lifted Wayland’s overall season record to 5-3.

Cutler made a statement that she was back in offensive gear within the first two minutes when she came up with a four-point play. She swished a three and was fouled in the process. Her charity toss staked Wayland to a 6-0 advantage, and they were never threatened afterward.

The Lady ‘Cats streaked to a 16-7 lead in the first period and didn’t let up. Senior forward Hope Dollarhide scored six points and junior guard Bethany Teunnisen nailed a couple of threes in the second quarter to open up the home team’s advantage to 17 points, 32-15.

The Trojans got nine points in the first half from junior guard Alyvia Thorne, but

by then Cutler had scored 10 to go with the dozen from Dollarhide and Teunissen.

Cutler opened the third quarter with another three to push the lead to 20 and pumped in yet another to widen the gap to 42-17 midway in the third period. It was all over but the shouting.

Though the ballgame was decided, Wayland went scoreless for five minutes in the fourth quarter and enabled TK to make the final score as close as it was. The ‘Cats appeared to be trying out their three-point shooting without any success.

Ali Martus played a steady ballgame and collected 11 points from the point and Teunnissen contributed 10 points off the bench.

Thorne finished with 12 points and freshman Amiyah Vandergeld drilled a couple of threes. Middleville now stands at 1-6 for the season.

The Lady Wildcats will have their work cut out for them next Friday when they travel to Grand Rapids Catholic Central to take on one of the very best Class B teams in the state. Wayland has bad memories from a year ago in the Cougars’ gym when it suffered their only regular season defeat.

PHOTOS: Ali Cutler   Bethany Teunissen

(Photos courtesy of Kenny Ritz)