The only real disappointment about the Wayland girls’ varsity basketball team’s district opening loss Monday to Allegan was the realization this game could have been won.
But it was not to be. And one of the biggest reasons was the concept of finishing what you started.
The Lady Wildcats wowed the crowd early in the first quarter with a 12-0 run and threatened to run away with the contest, but didn’t finish what they started and eventually lost 56-47.
Allegan, now 14-7 on the season overall, will take on 7-12 Hopkins Wednesday in the district semifinals. Wayland ended the season with a 1-20 record.
The Lady ‘Cats were down 4-0, but quickly went on a tear that featured a couple of three bombs by sophomore Grace Dollarhide, inside scoring by junior Sam Nieuwkoop and a couple of free throws by sophomore Abby Omness.
But Tigers’ do-it-all senior point guard Leslie Scane swished the first her three threes for the night and hit her second to tie at 12-all. The two teams traded the lead for a short spell before the roof fell in for the Lady Wildcats.
Wayland’s score of 18 on the scoreboard stayed stuck on 18 for far too long. The Tigers scored the last nine points of the second period and went into intermission with a 28-18 lead. They were able to maintain the double-digit cushion until the last four minutes of the ballgame.
The ‘Cats, outscored 19-6 in that awful second period, were guilty far too often of making smart and nifty moves with the ball to the iron, but in the end their shots went awry. It was particularly frustrating for Nieuwkoop, who seemed unstoppable when she moved to her left near or under the basket. But left is where she injured her hand about two months ago, and she just didn’t finish.
Guards Omness and Skyler Stora and guard-forward Macey Winger all were guilty of making the right decisions and the right moves, but not sealing the deal with the shot.
Wayland never came closer than a dozen points in the third quarter, but staged a furious rally early in the final stanza to get as close as six points, 46-40 on free throws by Nieuwkoop and Chloe Coughlin’s three pointer and an easy layup, courtesy of an alert and smart in-bounds pass by senior Captain Taryn Coughlin. Omness dropped in a pair from the line to make it 46-40 with 4:20 showing on the clock.
The Lady Wildcats’ defense also had stepped up, holding the Tigers to just two points in more than four minutes into the fourth period.
But six was as close as they would get. Scane made several clutch free throws, as did Antonette Ware.
Scane took high scoring honors with 20 points and senior pivot Kara Bishop scored 14.
Nieuwkoop led the Wildcats with 17 points, despite her frustrations, and Chloe Coughlin scored 11.
The Lady Wildcats made 19 of 30 free throw attempts during the evening.
It was the last game for seniors Taryn Coughlin and Sam Shealey. But everybody else likely will back on the floor next December.
PHOTO: The Lady Wildcats’ season ended Monday in the district opener. Team members are (from left, back row) Coaches Wes Hudson, Jill Steenwyk and Brendon Hudson, (second row) Capt. Taryn Coughlin, Carley Lambert, Sam Shealey, Sam Nieuwkoop, (third row) Macey Winger, Syler Stora, Mari Biondo, Chloe Coughlin, (front( Abby Omness and Grace Dollarhide.