The Wayland boys overcame a sluggish, ragged, uninspired first half performance to claim a 66-51 basketball victory over visiting Middleville Tuesday evening.

Or was the real story an inspired, intense effort by Thornapple Kellogg, that coach Mike Rynearson, a Hopkins High School graduate, could feel very good about? His squad battled the Wildcats almost evenly for two and half quarters until it couldn’t forestall what seemed inevitable.

The Trojans canned 10 three-point field goals, four by senior guard Matt Lark, and used five of them in the first half to stay within three points, 30-27, at intermission. They also took advantage of Wayland top two offensive weapons, Zack Nieuwkoop and Avery Hudson, sitting on the bench, both with two early fouls.

Hudson scored eight points in the first quarter, but joined Nieuwkoop on the sidelines early in the second and his teammates were down 24-20 late in the second period.

The cavalry arrived in the form of senior guard-forward Mitch Dykstra, who scored 10 straight points just before the end of the first half to turn a 24-20 deficit into a 30-24 lead. Trojan sophomore Isaiah Gunther, however, swished a three at the buzzer to narrow the gap to three.

Lark netted two threes in a row early in the third quarter and Hudson was whistled for his third foul. Down 33-30, the Wildcats badly needed a turnaround. And they got it.

They scored 11 consective unanswered points to overtake TK 41-33, and it was all downhill for Middle after that. The burst was highlighted by a touchdown pass for a layup from Nieuwkoop to Depree Holloway and a nifty pass from Carter Nyp to Nieuwkoop inside, followed by a short jumper by Holloway. Nyp polished off the run with a three.

Perhaps the biggest difference in the second half was the Wildcats picked up their defensive intensity. Regardless, TK finished with 10 triples.

Thornapple Kellogg was able to get as close as three, but Wayland continued to pull away, particularly early in the fourth period, when Hudson heated up. His three with six minutes to go opened up a 51-39 lead, the first time all night the two squads were separated by double digits.

Dykstra and Hudson both dropped in 20 points to pace the ‘Cats. Nieuwkoop had 10. Lark led Middleville with 17 points, Ike Possett had nine and Guenther eight.

Wayland, now 14-3 on the season overall and 7-2 in the O-K Gold Conference, slipped this week in the state-wide Class B poll to No. 9 after a 30-point loss to undefeated Grand Rapids Christian. The Wildcats will do battle at home Friday evening with a Wyoming team it beat only 76-72 earlier this season. Most observers see this as the battle for second place in the league.

PHOTO: Mitchell Dykstra to the rescue during a sluggish first half for the ‘Cats. (Photo courtesy of Kenny Ritz)