The Wayland girls’ basketball team Tuesday night defeated Forest Hills Central 57-46 in a non league contest and Martin hiked its overall season record to 10-1 with a 47-24 verdict over Byron Center Zion Christian.
The Hopkins girls, meanwhile, scored a hard-fought 31-28 defensive victory over Allendale Tuesday night to lift their record to 5-7.
Wayland was able to take a win on the road.
Junior Harmony Laker and sophomore Addy Sikorsky both dropped in 17 points to pace the Wildcats. Harmony, who earlier this week netted her 1,000th career points, drilled three, three-point field goals. Coughlin, Wolf and Ava Makowski each add one triple.
Reese Coughlin and Laney Wolf both added seven points.
The Lady Wildcats now are 9-6 overall for the season and they are tied for second in the O-K Gold Conference with Cedar Springs at 5-2.
Martin struggled a bit in the opening quarter, leading only 12-10, but opened things up big time in the second and third periods. The Lady Clippers enjoyed a comfortable cushion of 36-15 going into the last quarter.
Coach Ben Schipper was plainly delighted.
“Our defensive intensity was outstanding tonight and it really carried us early when the shots weren’t falling,” he said. “We started strong defensively in the first quarter, but then a few lapses near the end of the first allowed Zion to climb back into a manageable score. We really harped on a few things during the quarter break and came out phenomenally, holding them to 2 points in the second and three in the third.
“This was very important because even though we grew our lead in the second quarter, we had a lot of shots rimming in and out. We felt like we had the looks to break the game open in the second, but it just wasn’t happening. So the fact that we were still able to grow our lead to 11 at the half was huge and our defense was the key.”
Avery Jager had a career high with 16 points knocking down four three-pointers, also a career high.
The coach said, “Her aggressiveness on offense tonight was tremendous. Shooting confidently, attacking the rim numerous times, and crashing the boards hard resulted in a career night for her.”
After recording a career high Friday, Torryn Harris raised the bar to a new high with 14 points.
“Torryn’s relentless play is contagious for our team and the energy she brings our team off the bench is crucial to our team success,” Schipper said. “Her defensive intensity and rebounding are incredible and she has really grown this year and is starting to blossom as a real threat for us.
“This was another great team win for us showing that we have multiple playmakers who can lead us on any given night.”
The coach also gave shout out to Martin’s JV team as they moved to a perfect 11-0 by winning 33-27.
