The Lady Wildcats sing the blues.

After an impressive 3-0 start in the basketball season with victories over three “teams to watch,” Wayland absorbed its second straight defeat Tuesday night at Byron Center, 50-33, in what very well could be described as its worst outing since that awful 64-42 debacle at Grand Rapids Catholic Central last February. That 22-point loss was the Cats’ only setback in the regular season.

This one may have been even worse.

The Lady Wildcats didn’t seem to be able to do anything right, particularly offensively. They were unable to penetrate the Bulldogs’ zone defense to get good inside shots, and even worse, offensive rebounds for second shots at the hoop were almost nonexistent. Byron Center almost always seemed to be in the right place at the right time after a Wildcat would misfire.

Wayland, led by senior guard Ali Cutler, actually took a 15-12 lead in the first quarter. Cutler came up with a three-point play in the first couple of minutes and then copped a steal and touchdown pass for a Karli Warning layup to spark a five-point lead, 11-6.

The Lady Wildcats were ahead 17-14 early in the second period when the wheels came off.

Bulldog sophomore guard Ellie Dykstra made a couple of short jumpers to give her team its first lead, 18-17, and they were never headed afterward. In fact, Byron Center scored 18 unanswered points in the second quarter to mount a 32-17 advantage.

Dykstra finished the first half with 10 points and teammate Ashley Cline had nine.

One of the keys for Byron Center, besides its superior rebounding performance, was its excellent shot selection. Its players seemed to have an uncanny knack in getting the ball inside to teammates for layups, which accounted for all five of their 12 first period baskets. Wayland was guilty of enough defensive lapses to help.

That second quarter was a bit like the Lady Wildcats’ abysmal first half performance in its 46-40 loss to Grand Rapids Christian Dec. 23. But this time it was even worse, because there was no real comeback to make things interesting.

The ‘Cats did creep to within nine points, 38-29, by the end of the third quarter, thanks to some nifty defense that gave up only six points in that eight-minute span.

But the Bulldogs began to pull away again early in the fourth and Wayland meanwhile went through its second scoring drought of the evening, ended by Ali Martus’ jumper from just beyond the free throw line with only 1:37 remaining in the ballgame. Martus in the last minute of the fourth quarter grabbed about the only offensive rebound anyone could recall.

Wayland did not make one single three-point field goal. Cutler started well with five points in the first few minutes, but then was held scoreless for the rest of the night. Martus finished with nine points and McKaylah Donewald dropped in eight.

Dykstra, sister of Wayland boys’ basketball starter Mitchell Dykstra, netted 17 points for individual honors and Cline had 13.

Wayland now is 4-3, and among its seven opponents thus far this season, only Sparta has a losing record. The Lady ‘Cats will open their O-K Gold Conference season at home Friday against Middleville Thornapple Kellogg.

PHOTOS: (Courtesy of Kenny Ritz)  McKaylah Donewald   Ali Martus