A keen grasp of the obvious: The Wayland girls’ varsity basketball season has been enigmatic.

The Lady Wildcats Tuesday night hiked their overall season record to 3-0 with a 46-33 victory at Caledonia, a team they haven’t beaten since the heady days of Presley Hudson and Company.

Coach Wes Hudson has suffered greatly over his first three seasons at the helm, winning only once in his first campaign and going 6-16 and 4-17 in the following two years. So starting at 3-0 and winning each one by double figures is a bit of a shock to local fans. And it’s not like they’ve defeated the Little Sisters of the Poor.

Wayland opened with a 57-35 triumph over Hastings, which promptly gave Kalamazoo Loy Norrix all it wanted in a 36-34 loss. Then the ‘Cats beat Vicksburg 71-52, a team that was trounced by powerful Three Rivers, but bested Comstock by 10 points. Caledonia, a Class A school, had turned back Spring Lake by 10 points before losing to Wayland by 13.

So who are these ladies? It would be easy to say (a keen grasp of the obvious) that they are much improved. But just how good are they, particularly in an O-K Gold Conference that features powerhouses such as South Christian and Grand Rapids Christian?

Details of Tuesday night’s victory were not available. But the Lady Wildcats will continue their three-game road swing with a contest at Kenowa Hills Friday and another at Black River next Tuesday.

Stay tuned.

COVER PHOTO: Stephanie Ainsworth (30) has been particularly difficult for Wayland opponents to stop this season.