The glass slipper did not fit. The real Cinderella in the Class B district girls’ basketball tournament is Allegan.
Wayland played as poorly Friday in the tourney finals as it played well Wednesday in its electric upset of heavily favored Otsego. The Lady Wildcats underperformed in virtually every phase of the game while losing 54-48 in a contest that was not as close as the final score might indicate.
Wayland came up short in shooting, rebounding, ball handling, passing, dribbling and even defense. It was a totally different ballclub than the one that stuck it to Otsego in the semifinals.
Or perhaps Allegan was unjustly underrated? The Tigers entered the tournament with just an 8-12 overall record, but upended O-K Silver Conference champion Hopkins in the other semifinal Wednesday. They appeared to be scrappy, and they somehow found ways to dominate the boards against both the Vikings and Wildcats.
Wayland’s woes actually became apparent from the get-go. The Tigers shot out to an 8-2 lead in the first four minutes until a three by freshman Parrish Hudson and a layup by freshman Stephanie Ainsworth helped the home team draw to within one point.
Senior center Samantha Nieuwkoop scored on a putback late in the first quarter to give the Lady ‘Cats an 11-10 lead, but it would be the only time Wayland would be on top all night.
Tigers’ super soph Alison Bishop was held in check in the early going, but senior forward Delanie Nahikian picked up the slack with her baselines drives and pullups for short jumpers. Defense all year long has been a Lady Wildcat strength, but somehow Nahikian too often was able to beat defenders for good looks at the hoop.
Making things even more challenging for Wayland was that three starters, Nieuwkoop, Chloe Coughlin and Macy Winger were retired to the sidelines early with two fouls apiece. The Lady Wildcats spent most of the second quarter shooting and passing timidly and falling behind by 10, 27-17, at the break.
Telegraphed lazy passes and a nasty habit of dribbling and coming to a stop on the offensive side proved to be fatal to an anemic offense. The Tigers outscrapped Wayland in rebounding, just like they did to Hopkins two nights earlier.
With Bishop, who scored 31 points against Hopkins, heating up, Allegan began to pull away in the third period.
Junior point guard Abby Omness nailed a three and Abby Merice dropped in a free throw to close the gap to 39-31 early in the fourth quarter, but that’s as close as the score would get until the bitter end. The Tigers led by as many as 17 points up until then.
Wayland didn’t really make a run until the foul-plagued Nieuwkoop started to take the ball to the hoop. She was like a one-woman offensive force, not afraid to shoot and not afraid to take the basketball to the iron.
Nieuwkoop, in her last basketball game as a Wildcat, netted a career-high 27 points, most of them in the last eight minutes, leaving many fans to wonder just how good she could be.
But none of her teammates reached double figures. The two freshmen, Ainsworth and Hudson, both counted six points. Hudson’s were interesting in that she nailed a three early in the game and swished three free throws after being fouled during a three attempt.
Bishop and Nahikian both finished with 19 points to lead Allegan and Antonette Ware chipped in nine.
Wayland finished with a 6-16 record overall, coming a long way from the previous season’s 1-20. However, most of the Lady ‘Cats probably acknowledge their sorrow at letting a district championship get away from them.
Allegan will take its 10-12 record into Tuesday’s Class B regional at Hopkins against either Three Rivers or Edwardsburg.
(Photos courtesy of Kenny Ritz)
