The Wayland girls’ varsity basketball team claimed a tough 56-48 victory Tuesday night over Hamilton, which eliminated the Lady Wildcats in the district tournament last February.
The top three Wayland scorers were plagued by foul troubles throughout the game.
Marissa Ainsworth overcame the trouble by sinking a couple of three-point field goals and leading the Wildcat scoring parade with 16 points. Harmony Laker netted 14 points, Izzy Johnson and Rae Stallard both canned a three and finished with seven points, a total matched by Addy Sikorsky.
Wayland now owns a 5-1 overall record on the young season. Its only loss was to Division 1 Caledonia. The ‘Cats will take on Holland Christian Friday before the holiday break.
Sparta 78 Wayland 54
The Wildcat boys ran into a Sparta ballclub that now is 4-0 overall for the season. Wayland, with the loss fell to 3-3 on the season.
Martin 53 Zion Christian 35
The Clippers led by small margins throughout the first three periods before running away with the contest in the fourth quarter.
Coach Ben Schipper said, “Tonight was such a great win for us to get some confidence back against another solid opponent. Zion always plays us so tough and their chaotic press has given us fits in the past. We were very focused on playing with composure and taking much better care of the ball than we have the last few games.
“I was very proud of the girls for the improvement they showed tonight. It wasn’t always great and we started out a little shaky, but it steadily got better throughout the night and we were much closer to our team goal of 12 turnovers or less per game.
Marybeth Ritchie led a balanced scoring attack for us with 12 points. She also had nine rebounds and had three blocks.
“She’s been a defensive anchor for us inside this year, but it was great to see her offensive game blossom tonight,” her coach said. “We hope to see a lot more of that as the year goes on.”
Avery Jager had a solid night with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
“She really needed to see the ball go through the hoop as the start of the season has been slower than she hoped so far,” Schipper said.
Macy Thorne added nine points and all eight Clippers scored within the first half.
“We were sharing the ball really well and the girls had a lot of fun tonight,” Schipper added.
Lawton 42 Hopkins 37
The Lady Vikings absorbed their fourth straight defeat after winning their season opener over Three Rivers.
Allegan 52 Hopkins 45
Hopkins suffered its fifth consecutive defeat after claiming a season opening victory over Buchanan.
