The Wayland girls’ varsity basketball team suffered a 60-38 setback at the hands of Zeeland East Thursday evening in the first round of the Cornerstone University High School Holiday Basketball Tournament.

The defeat left the Lady Wildcats with a season record of 1-3. They will conclude tournament action at 4:30 p.m. Saturday with a contest against Forest Hills Central.

Wayland started strong, taking a 13-7 lead at the end of the first quarter and was still clinging to a 19-18 edge at intermission. But things went south badly in the second half, as the Lady ‘Cats were outgunned 17-7 in the third period and trailed by nine at the start of the final stanza. They yielded a whopping 25 points in that last eight minutes.

Senior pivot Samantha Nieuwkoop had a good night offensively, sinking eight of 10 shots, scoring 17 points and grabbing six rebounds. Stephanie Ainsworth added eight points.

Sophie Riemersma tallied 28 points, including 9-for-10 at the free throw line, and Meg Moorehouse had 20 for Zeeland East, which now owns a 3-1 record for the season.

COVER PHOTO: Sam Nieuwkoop (32)

(Photos courtesy of Kenny Ritz)