It was the first loss of the season for the Hopkins boys. And it was the first win of the season for Wayland.

The two milestones were reached Friday night when the Wildcats captured a 69-53 victory, improving to 1-3 on the season overall while the Vikings slipped to 1-3.

The Wildcats took a slim lead of 11-9 into the second quarter and then led 28-21 at the half. They stayed ahead by double figures the rest of the way.

“It was a tight game through the first quarter, but we just couldn’t seem to get in rhythm offensively tonight, and Wayland knocked down some big shots,” Vikings’ coach Jake Jewitt said. “After a tough start to the second half for us, we battled back and cut the lead to seven before Wayland pulled away again.  We showed spurts tonight, but need to put together a much more consistent game. We definitely got better tonight.”

Nick Schultz led Hopkins in scoring with 19.  Micah Estelle finished with 10 and several strong rebounds and blocks.  Cruz Hitzler added 9. 

The Vikings will be back in action Tuesday at Kent City.

Meanwhile, Martin improved over the first three games of the season, but lost 40-30 nonetheless to visiting Black River to fall to 0-4 overall.