Two steps forward, one step back. Unfortunately, the step back was a big one.

Such was the fate of the Wayland girls’ varsity basketball squad, which played as badly Tuesday night as it played well in its near upset last Friday night against Zeeland West.

The Lady Wildcats suffered a 53-32 defeat at the hands of visiting Middleville Thornapple Kellogg. Rubbing salt in the wound was the fact the Trojans entered the contest with a 1-8 overall record, so perhaps many fans thought this might be the night coach Wes Hudson finally gets that elusive first victory.

But it was not to be.

Virtually everything fell apart from the opening tip. Junior center Chloe Coughlin, the ‘Cats top rebounder, was whistled for two fouls in the first two minutes. And the game was barely three minutes old before junior forward Macey Winger was called for two fouls. She picked up her third with 2:21 left in the first quarter.

When you have only seven ballplayers dressed for the game, you worry about some of your charges fouling out, maybe even having just four players near the end.

Meanwhile, the Lady Wildcats couldn’t hit the proverbial broadside of a barn against TK’s zone defense and one errant shot was all they got. They made only two field goals in the first eight minutes and had only five at the half, trailing 28-13.

It was bad passing, bad shooting and little in the way of rebounding with the absence of Winger and Chloe Coughlin.

It just didn’t look like the same hustling team that bothered Zeeland West Friday night to give the 5-2 Dux a five-point ballgame.

Chloe Coughlin was called for her third foul in the first 15 seconds of the second half and the ‘Cats were held scoreless in the third period until 3:10 was left when Chloe hit Taryn Coughlin for a nifty layup. By that time it was all but over, as Wayland was down 37-15.

Middleville emptied its bench at the start of the fourth quarter and the Lady Wildcats made a mild run, but they were just about out of time. They scored in double figures for the first time in that final period.

Trojan sophomore Amiyah Vandergeld dropped in 15 points to lead all scorers, including several threes. Teammates Tess Scheidel and Grace Shoobridge both counted a dozen points.

For Wayland, Taryn Coughlin was the only scorer in double figures, with 10 points. Chloe Coughlin had a pair of threes for six points and sophomore Abby Omness added a half dozen as well.

The Lady Wildcats will continue to be looking for their first victory this Friday night when they meet Wyominbg on the Wolves’ court.

PHOTO: Chloe Coughlin (35) gets some advice from coach Wes Hudson.