By Jason Wesseldyk
Sports Editor
HAMILTON—It’s been said that the third time’s a charm.
For the Wayland boys basketball team, the third quarter was the charm in its contest against host Hamilton on Tuesday, Nov. 26.
Facing a 24-19 halftime deficit, the Wildcats used a 12-4 edge in the third quarter to take the 31-28 lead on the way to the 46-42 victory.
The game was the season opener for both teams.
“Hamilton is always a tough opponent,” Wayland coach Chris Jasinski said. “They are well coached and (Hamilton coach Nick Kronemeyer) always has his teams playing hard. They lost JT McIlwain from last year, but we knew they returned a lot of other players and would be a tough challenge.”
Wayland’s solid third quarter was actually a carryover of the final minutes of the second stanza.
“We started a bit slow to start the game, but with about two or three minutes before halftime, we started to go on what ended up being a 16-2 run,” Jasinski said. “That was the difference. In the game.”
Tyler Pehrson led the third-quarter charge for Wayland, scoring 10 of his team-best 16 points during that eight-minute span. Six of those points came on a pair of 3-pointers.
Maurgan Howard accounted for the Wildcats’ other two points of the quarter. He finished with four points.
In the fourth quarter, Pehrson knocked down a couple of more triples, while Breslin VandenBos hit a pair of clutch free throws.
“Our defense forced (Hamilton) into a lot of tough, contested shots and in the second half we were able to hit some shots,” Jasinski said. “Overall, it was a good first game for us. It’s always good to start the season with a win.”
Eli Warsen added 10 points for Wayland.
Riley VanDerHulst led Hamilton with 10 points, followed by Logan O’Connor with eight. Jeren Bronkhorst and Londin Cooper each had seven points.
