Wayland boys’ varsity basketball coach Chris Jasinski probably thought he had captured his first career victory Friday night, but fate dealt him and his team a cruel blow in a heart-breaking 56-54 loss to Middleville Thornapple Kellogg Friday evening.
The Wildcats, looking for the their first win this season, without question put in their best game and shocked the visiting squad by running out to a 32-21 advantage at intermission. They put 23 points on the board in the second quarter, and by halftime they had limited TK to just three field goals.
However, junior center Austin VanElst, the biggest guy on the floor, made no fewer than 10 free throws to keep the Trojans in the ballgame.
Jasinski employed a 2-3 zone in an effort to curb the offensive and rebounding prowess of VanElst. And for three quarters, the strategy worked wonders. They refused to permit a single three-point basket and limited TK’s scoring opportunities.
Noting his Wildcats were heavily outsized, he had them scrambling out front, sometimes double-teaming and the ball handler and sometimes coming up with steals to neutralize the Trojans’ rebounding.
The heroic and hustling efforts caused Wayland to enjoy a 45-34 cushion at the end of three periods, with a surprising putback by Kaden Dole providing two big points just before the buzzer.
But then everything seemed to go south. After leading by as many as 15 points, 49-34, on a steal and layup by Justin Holtz, TK slowly made its way back.
One of the crucial plays down the stretch was Middleville’s only successful three-point goal, by Nolan Dahley, while referees at the same whistled a foul on the Cats inside, giving VanElst two more free throws. Then came a technical foul and two more free throw opportunities for Dahley, who put his team up 54-53 with just a little more than a minute to go.
Freshman Austin Reeder made the front end of a one-and-one to tie it at 54 with 1:04 left, but then Middleville went into a stall to get the last shot, a short running floater by junior Cole Shoebridge, which dropped into the net with just about three seconds remaining.
VanElst finished with 25 points, 15 of them on free throws, so he managed only five field goals.
Junior guard Riley Fields turned in his best offensive performance in his career, swishing 27 points, many of them on three-point bombs that kept TK from making a comeback. Until that last quarter.
Wayland now is 0-13 overall and 0-7 in the O-K Gold Conference. Middleville is 3-10.
COVER PHOTO: Members of the Thornapple Kellogg choir and the Wayland sign language program performed the national anthem in honor of TK student Lydia Cole, who died of pancreatic cancer Jan. 30.