The Wayland boys’ varsity basketball team Tuesday night found itself in an unusual position — behind, way behind.
Grand Rapids Christian came to town with a 4-0 record overall and left town 5-0 after a convincing 71-49 triumph and a really quick hold on the driver’s seat for the O-K Gold championship this season.
Some thought the Wildcats had seen their best competition last month in that two-point loss to Wyoming Godwin Heights. Not so.
Christian is led by burly 6-8 all-state center Xavier Tillman, who has signed to play for Michigan State University coach Tom Izzo. The big guy owned the boards and posed massive problems for Wayland’s offensive efforts, but he scored only 13 points, letting teammates do some of the heavy offensive lifting.
If there was a silver lining in the cloud that hung over Wayland’s gym Tuesday night, it was the realization that Grand Rapids Christian is a Class A school, so it will not be an opponent in the post-season tournament. The Eagles instead will be in a Class A tourney at Ottawa Hills with Caledonia, Middleville Thornapple Kellogg, East Grand Rapids and Byron Center.
But Tuesday night Christian looked like a small college outfit, wasting no time establishing control. With the contest barely two minutes old, the visitors had mounted an 8-0 advantage. Tillman is the first 30 seconds grabbed a weak-side rebound and scored on a putback and was fouled by Wildcat center Zack Nieuwkoop. He made the three-point play and the Eagles were flying off to a lead they never relinquished.
Duane Washington Jr. swished three three-point bombs against a zone defense to spark a 21-14 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Senior guard-forward Mitchell Dykstra nailed a couple of threes in the first period to give the ‘Cats twice the illusion of getting as close as five points, but it wasn’t long before Christian was enjoying a double-digit cushion.
The Eagles held customarily high-scoring point guard Avery Hudson to one three in the entire first half and they limited Wayland to just eight points in the entire second quarter to open up a 38-22 advantage at intermission.
They ran faster, jumped higher and beat the Wildcats to the basket, even better than did Godwin.
Christian had another big man in James Beck at 6-7 and Setrick Milner at 6-5, and all three grabbed a boatload of rebounds, giving Wayland very few chances at second shots at the hoop.
Tillman had only five points at the half and he warmed up a bit in the third period, but he was retired to the sidelines with four fouls.
Meanwhile, Nieuwkoop, himself a candidate for all-state, began scoring heavily inside, but it was too late.
Nieuwkoop completed the contest with 22 points, Dykstra cooled off to finish with 11 and Hudson counted 10. Carter Nyp again nailed a couple of threes off the bench.
Washington led Christian with 18 points on four threes. Thad Shymanski, who didn’t even start, had 16 points, mostly on threes.
The loss dropped Wayland’s overall record to 4-2. The ‘Cats will be back on the hardcourt at home Friday evening when they will be host to nonleague opponent Zeeland West.
PHOTO: Zack Nieuwkoop