Though East Grand Rapids is near the top of the O-K Gold Conference basketball standings, Wayland has given the Pioneers a solid battle in both encounters this season.

The Wildcats lost by only seven points last month on East’s floor, and Friday night they came up five points short, 58-53.

The Lady Wildcats, earlier in the evening, suffered a 64-33 setback at the hands of East Grand Rapids, and their overall record fell to 4-14, 3-7 in league play. The Pioneer girls are 15-3 overall and 8-2 in the Gold.

Wayland’s boys took a 14-11 lead at the close of the first quarter, but an awful second period doomed the effort. The Pioneers used a 22-10 advantage to mount a 33-24 lead at intermission.

The ‘Cats battled back to narrow the gap to single digits, but it was too little too late.

Only six members of the Wayland team broke into the scoring column during the contest. Senior forward Carter Nyp talled 21 points to lead the way and junior pivot Cory Ainsworth added 18. But the next highest point-getter was senior guard Travis Cutler with six.

Wayland now is 7-11 overall for the season and 3-7 in the O-K Gold. It will play at Forest Hills Eastern Tuesday evening and return home to conclude the regular season Friday against South Christian.

(Photos courtesy of Kenny Ritz)