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Top-ranked Rockford rolls past Whitehall in commanding win

Key scorer leaves game for Whitehall.

ROCKFORD, Mich. – The Whitehall boys’ basketball team came into the night winning its last nine games, which included a double-overtime victory over Division One Mona Shores.

The Vikings knew they faced a large task coming into the week against a top-ranked team. Rockford did not disappoint Monday night, adding an extra win to its record after a 69-37 blowout performance.

Whitehall senior, Kal Koehler, left the game late in the first quarter with an apparent elbow injury. Koehler soon after was taken in to get stitches in his elbow and will be out for at least 7-10 days. Whitehall faces Big Rapids Tuesday night and Oakridge on Friday. Koehler is expected to miss both games.

Koehler is Whitehall’s second-leading scorer behind Camden Thompson.

“No excuses, we had guys that stepped up and played some minutes,” Coach Christian Subdon said regarding when Koehler left the game.

The Vikings were riddled with turnovers all night with 21 total as a team compared to just 12 for the Rams.

“Rockford puts an incredible amount of pressure on you, they have guards that can put pressure on you. We didn’t run what we wanted to run, we ran what Rockford wanted us to,” Subdon said. “We got to work a little bit harder; we need to be more detail-oriented.”

The game started quickly, with both teams trading blow for blow, lay-up for lay-up. Thompson scored four quick points, followed by buckets from Finn Muller and Brock Morningstar for the Vikings. Rockford’s Dylan Gross would match those with a three-pointer, which gave him five points on the quarter. Rockford led by just one heading into the second.

Michael DeKuiper led the Rams in their big 25-point second quarter with eight points, including a corner three with just over four minutes left in the half to take an 11-point lead. Whitehall’s offense went stale with just five points. Rockford held a 38-17 advantage after two quarters of play.

Rockford would continue to rain beyond-the-arc heaves in the second half to prevent Whitehall from gaining any momentum. With about four minutes left, the Rams held a 30+ point lead and began to clear their bench.

Thompson scored a quiet 20 points, 10 of those came at the charity stripe. Hunter Osborne was Whitehall’s second-leading scorer with five.

DeKuiper finished with 18, followed by Gross with 13, and Lucas Pitsch, who added 11.

Whitehall is tasked with back-to-back one-hour drives as they visit Big Rapids Tuesday.

Rockford will prep for East Kentwood on Friday.

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Myles Welch joined CatchMark in February 2024 as a CatchMark SportsNet Intern. He would like to become a sports broadcaster or analyst. He currently attends Whitehall High School and will graduate in 2025.

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