Byron Center has been struggling on the hardcourt this season, and it showed Saturday night in its makeup ballgame at Wayland.

The visiting Bulldogs, now 2-14 on the season overall, failed to score in double figures as a team throughout the first three quarters. They could not cope at all with 6-8 senior Wildcat pivot Cory Ainsworth and they failed to deal effectively with a trapping zone defense.

Ainsworth scored 12 points in the first quarter alone, as many as Byron managed throughout the entire first half. By halftime he had 18 and he finished with 25 without playing even a minute in the final period. He also collected 14 rebounds.

Meanwhile, sophomore point guard Riley Fields nailed a trio of three-point field goals.

Jack Baker was the only Bulldog to score in double figures, with 13 points, almost half the team’s total.

Wayland, coming off more than a week of being idle because of inclement weather, showed no signs of being rusty, whipping the basketball around with crisp passing and getting the ball inside to Ainsworth for mismatches. The tallest Byron Center player at 6-5 didn’t play very much as the guy assigned to Ainsworth was plagued with foul trouble throughout the contest.

The big star of the night, however, was the collective defensive effort, as Wayland led 20-5 at the end of the first quarter, 33-12 at intermission and 49-15 at the end of three.

The victory lifted the Wildcats’ overall season record to 10-4. They are scheduled to play at home again Tuesday against Middleville Thornapple Kellogg, a team they beat by only two points last month.

COVER PHOTO: Sophomore Riley Field nailed three threes.