“Hey, it’s good to be back home again.” — John Denver
Wayland’
s boys’ varsity basketball team had been on the road for so long that it finally played in its own gym Friday night for the first time since last March. And the Wildcats, despite a heroic effort by guest South Christian in the first eight minutes, cruised to a 72-53 victory in a game that wasn’t as close as the final score might indicate.
Wayland was enjoying a 27-point lead midway into the final period.
Senior point guard Avery Hudson helped usher in the new year and a new season in the O-K Gold Conference opener by scoring only fewer point than all of the Sailors in the third quarter while his teammates were pulling away. He personally counted 14 in the first eight minutes after the first half while South Christian had 15 as a team.
The Sailors apparently had their sails set on an upset of state-ranked Wayland, as they came out on fire, playing aggressive defense and hitting the boards hard. They took 7-2 and 9-4 leads midway into the first quarter while the sluggish Wildcats had a hard time getting untracked.
But not to worry.
Senior guard-forward Mitchell Dykstra nailed a three-pointer from the corner and hit Depree Holloway for a layup to bring his team to a two-point lead, 11-9. Senior pivot Zack Nieuwkoop then scored inside and Hudson did his thing with a steal and fast-break layup, and suddenly the home team was up 17-12.
South Christian sophomore forward Luke Schrotenboer then nailed his second three in the quarter to tighten the count at 17-15.
But it turned out to be only an effort to forestall the inevitable, as Hudson outside and Nieuwkoop inside were just too much in the second period for a ballclub that was playing three sophomores on the varsity.
By intermission, Hudson had 12 points and Nieuwkoop 10 and Wayland had mounted a double-digit lead at 36-25.
Then Hudson went wild with his customary helter-skelter style up and down the court, getting steals for layups, driving to the hoop and occasionally pulling up for a three.
The 6-7 Nieuwkoop was the player the Sailors were on a mission to stop, and he finished with only 13 points, well below his average, but Hudson made them pay dearly for the strategy. Nieuwkoop nonetheless accomplished his fifth double-double of the season in five outings with 10 rebounds.
Hudson finished with 26 points, a bunch of steals and a surprising number of rebounds, seven, despite his lack of stature.
Dykstra, who had a couple of subpar games in the Cornerstone holiday tournament last month, recovered nicely to drop in 14 points. Junior super sub Carter Nyp again drilled a couple of threes and Holloway added seven points.
Schrotenboer scored all eight of his points in that first quarter. South Christian was led by senior guard Eric Dykstra, who collected 15 points.
The win pushed Wayland’s record to 4-1 and it was a nice comeback from the difficult two-point loss to Wyoming Godwin Heights in the holiday tourney finale, a real-life battle of the titans on the hardcourt.
PHOTO: Avery Hudson (Photo courtesy of Kenny Ritz)
