It’s been a long time since the Wayland girls’ varsity basketball team entered the holiday break with a 6-0 overall record. But here they are.
The Lady Wildcats remained unbeaten at the expense of a visiting Hopkins outfit that entered Thursday night’s ballgame with a 3-1 record. The 66-39 verdict made it six in a row for winning by margins in double figures.
The final outcome was a bit of a surprise if you watched only the first four minutes. The Lady Vikings took a 7-3 lead as Wayland was plagued by turnovers, missed layups and poor free throw shooting.
Though junior guard Parrish Hudson drilled a three to put her ‘Cat teammates up 9-8 and hit 6-2 junior center Stephanie Ainsworth with a TD pass for two points on the run to make it 10-9, the Vikings’ Morgan Dykstra managed to beat the buzzer to put her team ahead 11-10 at the end of the first quarter.
However, everything for Hopkins went south afterward.
Ainsworth scored twice inside the paint, sophomore Emma Ludema dropped in a short jumper and senior Haley Dobry went coast to coast after a steal in the first minute and a half of the second period. Vikings’ coach Tim Hoogewind called a timeout, but it was too late. A 11-10 lead had turned into an 18-11 deficit and the Lady Wildcats, though sometimes sloppy and turnover prone, were off and running.
Hudson nailed a couple more threes and the flurry continued into a 30-17 cushion at intermission.
Wayland had outgunned the Vikings 20-6 in that second quarter.
By halftime, Hudson had 13 points and Ainsworth 10.
The Wildcats extended their lead to 44-19 in a 14-2 run during the first four minutes of the third period, and the contest turned into a rout.
Freshman guard Mady Terry drilled a three and Hudson continued to fire TD passes to Ainsworth for fast-break buckets.
By the time the fourth quarter had started, Wayland was ahead 51-21, holding the Vikings to just 10 points in the middle two quarters, and both coaches started to empty their benches.
Though Ainsworth suffered through a horrible night at the free throw line, just one for seven, she led all scorers with 19 points, 21 fewer than her school-record tying total Tuesday night.
Wayland made just 10 of 22 free throws as a team, and Hopkins wasn’t much better at 14 for 24.
Hudson finished with 16 points and Dobry and Terry both contributed nine points.
Dykstra scored 11 points to lead Hopkins. Freshman center Mady Weber and senior guard Evangelina Helderop both added six points.
Wayland will play one more non-league contest, at home Tuesday, Jan. 7, against Kelloggsville, and then will open O-K Gold Conference action Friday, Jan. 10.
Hopkins will try to regroup Friday, Dec. 20, at home with a non-league game against Allendale and will open play in the O-K Silver Conference Jan. 10 against Wyoming Godwin Heights.
COVER PHOTO: Viking Paris Corneille finds the going tough in trying to in-bound the ball to Maya Kerber (5), who’s tussling with Wayland freshman Mady Terry (right).