It was a sad ending to a good basketball season for Hopkins. It was a glad extension of a difficult season for Wayland.
Wayland prevailed 65-41 in the Class B district tournament finals Friday night in the “Border Wars V” showdown on the hardcourt. Hopkins had won all of the four football games between the neighborhood rivals before they were terminated two and a half years ago.
The difference in the contest Friday night became apparent very quickly. The Wildcats, sporting a height advantage and a tenacious pressure defense, took command just before the first quarter buzzer. The game started with a three-point play by 6-5 center Cory Ainsworth and the period ended with point guard Carson Sevigny firing a long pass to Ternor Hudson for a layup as time expired.
Meanwhile, Hopkins failed to score a single field goal in the first eight minutes and it would have been skunked had it not been for five free throws in a 12-5 score. The Vikings’ field goal drought continued well into the second quarter until the 2:31 mark, when freshman center Colin Weber dropped in a layup off a drive to the hoop.
Hopkins struggled to get the ball inside for a clean shot against the likes of Ainsworth, 6-7 senior forward Carter Nyp and 6-4 junior forward George Yanakiev. Ainsworth and Yanakiev were retired to sidelines early with fouls, but junior guard-forward Hudson was heating up with outside shooting and fast-break buckets on passes from Sevigny and Nyp. By the halftime break, Hudson had 11 points.
Hopkins was down 35-16 at intermission, and 14 of the 16 points came at the free throw line. The Wildcats, because of their pressure defense, were whistled for more than double the fouls.
Things in that department got even worse for Wayland early in the third period, when Ainsworth was called for his fourth foul. Yanakiev shortly afterward followed him to the bench with his third infraction.
The Vikings then started to get some offense from junior forward Nolan Smith and junior guard Hunter Lewellyn. Smith scored twice inside to bring his team to within 15, but that’s about as close as they’d get.
Wayland started to pull away again, as Nyp and senior guard Travis Cutler led the charge, widening the gap to as many as 25 points, 49-24.
Hopkins continued to struggle with shooting all night, particularly as a result of pressure zone defense out front and superior rebounding inside.
About the only area in which the Wildcats faltered was too many fouls, as they were found guilty more than 10 times in each half, sending Hopkins to line too often. Yanakiev fouled out and Ainsworth played sparingly with four fouls.
Hudson had a career-high 15 points to take individual game scoring honors. Cutler, besides turning in a strong all-around performance, had 11, Nyp and Ainsworth 10 apiece and sophomore Ethan Mutschler, just up from the junior varsity, had a quality varsity experience, scoring six points and hauling down several rebounds.
Smith made a heroic effort for the Vikings, scoring 14 points, and Lewellyn added 10. Both were the only Hopkins players to nail a three-pointer.
The Vikings finished their season at 13-10 overall, their first winning season in at least a decade.
For Wayland, it’s been a bittersweet campaign. During one six-game stretch, coach Mike Hudson was absent while tending to serious family health issues, and the ‘Cats finished in the middle of the pack in the O-K Gold Conference with a 5-7 record.
The Wildcats, now 10-12 for the season overall, will be the Cinderella entry in the Class regional tournament at 6 p.m. Monday at Coloma. They take on a 17-5 Dowagiac quintet that was the only team this season to beat Otsego, until Wayland turned the trick Wednesday evening in the district semifinals.
Good going both Wildcats and Vikings. Good luck next year!