The Wayland boys’ varsity basketball team had to overcome several obstacles Friday night to win the O-K Gold Conference championship.
The Wildcats had to cope with an aggressive man-to-man defense that held them to a season low 17 first-half points, a determined Ottawa Hills team with designs on sharing the league title, and even the official scorer, who robbed them of a point they scored.
It’s a good thing the final score wasn’t a one-point verdict. It was 53-46, or make that 54-46.
The strangest part of the ballgame came with 3:39 left on the clock with the two teams tied at 42-42 when junior point guard Avery Hudson hooked up with Jake Holtz for a baseline layup to put the visiting ‘Cats up 44-42. But shortly afterward, the scoreboard instead showed 43-42.
Coach Mike Hudson and Wayland scorer Mark Doxey almost immediately protested, but referees ruled the official scorebook was indeed, official.
Had it not been for Wayland’s deadly accuracy at the free throw line in the last three minutes, it might have been a protested contest.
Ottawa made its last score with 1:10 left when slashing forward Anthony McIntosh scored inside to put his team up 46-45. At least that’s what the scoreboard read.
But Hudson, who was not a factor offensively in the first three periods, made six of six free throws in the last quarter and he was joined in charity stripe perfection by Michael Kelly and Jake Holtz.
The ‘Cats finished the game converting 21 of 26 at the line and made their last 11 in a row, turning around an awful offensive performance and perhaps making fans forget that awful “free throw flu” from the 2015 season.
Ottawa came out strong in the opening minutes with pressure man-to-man defense and every time Wayland made an errant pass the Bengals made them pay dearly with lightning fast break baskets.
Ottawa Hills was down 11-10 at the end of the first quarter, but scored 10 unanswered points in the first four and a half minutes of the second. The Wildcats battled back to make it 22-17 at intermission, but then fell victim to some of the same fast break hoops off turnovers in the third period to fall behind by double digits, 31-21.
So here they were, down by 10 with only a little more than 12 minutes to play. Enter junior guard Mitch Dykstra, who turned in his finest offensive performance of an up and down season.
Dykstra seemed to the only Wildcat who could find the range from three-point land and he buried some free throws to help Wayland mount a slow comeback.
The ‘Cats crept to within two, 35-33, with less than 10 second to go before the start of the final quarter when Ojani Echevarria threw up a three-point prayer from just over the time line, a bank shot at the buzzer. Wayland now was down by five, 38-33, at the start of the fourth period.
That set the stage for the bizarre and exciting finish.
Dykstra dropped in 17 points to pace the Wildcats. Zack Nieuwkoop was held to 12 points, but he was a huge force in the rebounding department with 15. Hudson finished with 10 and Mike Velting came through with a gritty nine points.
McIntosh shared game scoring honors with 17 points, Echeverria had 10 and Anthony Alexander nine. The Bengals were hampered by a shooting hand injury to top scoring guard Marques Smalley.
The victory enabled Wayland to finish the league season with a 10-0 record, its first O-K Gold championship since that 2010 team that went 20-0 for the season overall.
The Wildcats now are 17-1 overall and will play two nonleague contests before taking part in the Battle of the Titans March 7 in the district tournament opener against Wyoming Godwin Heights.
PHOTO: Mitchell Dykstra Mike Velting
(Photos courtesy of Kenny Ritz)