Wayland's Wes Hudson drives the lane | Louis Murray, Murray Sports Photography
You can make comparisons between teams based on records, outcomes versus common opponents, perceived strengths and weaknesses, style of play, and any number of other factors. As a sportswriter, it’s part of the gig to speculate on these things. But Tuesday night’s West Michigan Allstar Game of the Week between Wayland and Ottawa Hills proved yet again that it’s impossible to know how two teams stack up to one another until they actually meet on the court.
There was a time not too long ago that Wayland and Ottawa Hills were considered the top two teams in the Grand Rapids area. Numbers 1 and 1-A, if you will. Two Bengal losses later, Wayland seemed to have an edge over Ottawa Hills, but even with those two losses, the circumstances surrounding each team were more alike than different, and heading into Tuesday’s game you could have made a legitimate case for either team coming out on top.
Wayland's Chase Burgess stretches up a reverse layup | Louis Murray, Murray Sports Photography
Not anymore. After Tuesday’s 68-52 victory, there’s no more arguing about the top team in G-Rap — the Wayland Wildcats own every bit of that spot.
Lead by senior guard Wes Hudson, who tallied 19-points in the victory, Wayland didn’t take long to assert their will. The Wildcats logged their first double-digit lead after only 12-minutes of play, and lengthened it to a 15-point lead by halftime. Even by that point, the outcome of the game seemed clear.
But Ottawa Hills wasn’t done. The Bengals staged a rally to end the third quarter, keyed by two three-point bombs from junior Daniel West, and early into the fourth had cut the 18-point lead down to ten. The momentum had done an abrupt 180-degree turn, and the once dormant crowd was wide awake.
Facing a hungry team in a hostile environment, Wayland collected themselves and coolly responded. No biggie — simply time to play.
Zach Kasper nailed a couple threes, Ben Lenard hit a jumper, Chase Burgess and Justin Pepper cleaned up inside and then, fittingly, Hudson nailed an NBA-range three-pointer to cap off a 15-0 run, pushing the lead to 25-points with only minutes to play. All that was left was draining the clock.
It was precisely the type of completely dominant run at exactly the right time that you’d expect from the top team in Grand Rapids.
What’s up with the Bengals?
After winning their first six contests, Tuesday’s loss marks the third consecutive loss for Ottawa Hills. But that’s really not as surprising as it might seem. Ottawa Hills is an extremely athletic team, who thrives off their pressure defense forcing turnovers and bad shots, and then turning those possessions into fast break opportunities — a situation in which the Bengals excel.
But the flip side of this coin is that the Bengals struggle in playing a half-court game. And when their opponents limit their turnovers, or when their opponents are making their shots, Ottawa doesn’t have the opportunity to get out and run in the transition game.
What all this translates to is that Ottawa Hills is the archetypal “feast-or-famine” team. When things are going well, they really go well. When they’re not, they’re really not.
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