A horrible start and a horrible finish cost the Wayland girls’ varsity basketball team dearly in their quest for a second victory in the now-concluded season.
Forest Hills Eastern prevailed 58-52 to even its regular season record at 10-10, 6-6 in O-K Gold Conference play. Wayland ended its regular season with a 1-19 mark, but was much improved from its 47-32 loss to the Hawks earlier in the season.
The Lady Wildcats were left in the dust out of the starting gate 10-0 in the first three minutes and then were done in by one free throw shooter and the inside play of Marcia Hawkins-Day in the fourth quarter. They dared to win the ballgame, leading 35-31 and 38-34 with less than three minutes left in the third quarter.
Something unusual struck in the first 30 second of the contest. Hawks’ point guard Linsey McKee nailed a three-point basket and was fouled in the act of shooting. She made the first of her many free throws during the evening and the four-point play set the home team back 4-0. It wasn’t very long before it was 10-0 until junior forward Chloe Coughlin swished the first of her four three-pointers of the game. She dropped in another and Sam Shealey, getting her first serious action since coming back from knee surgery came up with another to bring the Lady ‘Cats to with one, 14-13.
But Wayland was down 22-16 at the end of the first quarter, owing largely to uncharacteristic lousy defense.
The ‘Cats allowed Forest Hills just seven points in the second period and nine in the third and not only climbed back into the game, but took four-point leads twice. The start of the fourth quarter found the two teams knotted at 38.
Enter inside play by the Hawks’ Marcia Hawkins-Day, listed as a 6-1 forward-center and an inch shorter than center Jenn Breuker. The two of them did a terrific job on the Wildcats’ Sam Nieuwkoop and held her to just seven points by forcing her to change her shot off the glass.
Hawkins-Day broke the 38-38 tie in the first minute of the fourth period with a putback of a missed shot and she came back to score inside again. Not long afterward she found Kaleigh McKee for a layup, so Wayland was playing catchup.
The effort was doomed most in the last couple of minutes by a dismal 3-for-6 perfoance at the free throw line while McKee swished six consecutive free throws to enable her team to pull away.
Chloe Coughlin finished with 13 points, including the four threes. Taryn Coughlin added 10 points and Nieuwkoop and sophomore Grace Dollarhide both had seven.
Wayland managed to can nine three-point field goals for the evening, which probably was the best outside shooting effort of the season.
The Lady Wildcats will begin the second season at 5 p.m. Monday evening against Allegan in the Class B district tournament opener at Hopkins.
PHOTO: Chloe Coughlin (Photo courtesy of Kenny Ritz)