It’s a safe bet that Wayland head varsity basketball coach Mike Hudson will be drilling his charges on breaking a full-court trapping press after his team’s 58-44 season opening triumph over Lowell Friday night.
The Wildcats unveiled a strong zone defense that exploits their height and a very talented 6-8 senior center in Cory Ainsworth, who demonstrated his prowess in going over, under, around and through defenders under the basket. That half-court defense was so good it yielded only one Lowell field goal in the first quarter and none in the last.
But those two periods in between were nightmares, as the visiting Red Arrows found ways to neutralize Wayland’s height advantage with a trapping full-court press that caused a flurry or turnovers that might cause Hudson to lose a lot of sleep. The Wildcats dominated the first quarter 17-7, but permitted Lowell to creep to within five, 30-25, at the half and actually fell behind 42-41 at the start of the final eight minutes.
Furthermore, things really went south for Wayland at the free throw line, where the Red Arrows sank 12 of 16 in the first 16 minutes and because of which caused the home team to be whistled for far too many fouls. Ainsworth had to sit out most of the third period because of three fouls.
The ‘Cats seemed to be in control with a 30-20 cushion until the last minute of the first half, when Lowell’s Nolan Cusak nailed a three and dropped in a runner with almost no time left on the clock. And Wayland was found guilty of 10 of the first 13 fouls called in the ballgame.
Regrouping for the second half didn’t go as well as Hudson had hoped. Despite his plans to overcome the frenzied trapping defense, his ballclub slowly continued to let the visiting group back into it and Wayland actually fell behind by as much as three, but sophomore guard Riley Fields swished a three and then hit Jory Shepherd for an easy layup to regain the lead at 41-39, before Cusak pumped in another three to give Lowell its last lead of the night.
Ainsworth re-entered the game to start the fourth quarter and he and 6-6 partner in crime George Yanakiev began to dominate the boards. And the Wildcats were able to slow down the game again, showcasing that zone defense that was difficult to penetrate.
Fields helped turn the tide with a press-breaking driving layup and Ainsworth went back to the iron, and senior guard Ternor Hudson just about put the nail in the Red Arrows’ coffin by sinking a three from the left corner midway in that last stanza.
Lowell managed to score only two free throws in the entire final period.
Red Arrows’ coach Travis Slanger substituted so often that he once had a player enter while the clock was still running.
When the smoke had cleared, Ainsworth was the only player who scored in double figures during the evening. He had 23 points to go with his 11 rebounds and four blocks. He proved to be too much for Lowell to handle, scoring 12 points in the first seven minutes of the game.
Fields scored eight points and added seven assists. Hudson and Yanakiev both had seven points for Wayland. Rob Schneider had nine points and Cusak eight, all of them at crucial times.
Wayland will compete in the annual Cornerstone Holiday Tournament next month, but first it will have to take on Caledonia on the Scots’ floor Dec. 11.
COVER PHOTO: Carson Sevigny (5) scores on a breakaway layup while Nick Cusak can only watch.
Just for your information the sophmore on the Wayland Varsity basketball team is Riley Fields not Nate (Nate graduated in 2014). Riley had 8 points, 7 assists and 3 steals.
Humble apologies.