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West Michigan Conference Lakes midseason review: Whitehall leads the way with undefeated conference record

Whitehall is king of the hill followed by Ludington and Oakridge.

Whitehall Vikings – (9-2, 5-0)

Coming off an undefeated regular season a year ago, Whitehall returned its two leading scorers and hasn’t missed a beat. The lone losses came against Hudsonville and Grand Blanc, both out-of-conference opponents. Wins against Forest Hills Central, Coopersville, and Spring Lake show how sneaky the Vikings can be come March. Camden Thompson leads Whitehall in scoring, rebounding, and assists, averaging 23.6 points, 14.5 rebounds, and 6.2 assists per game. Kal Koehler and Brock Morningstar supplement Thompson and complete Whitehall’s big three. Koehler averages 15.7 points per game, while Morningstar, known as a three-point specialist, averages nearly eight points a night. The Vikings still have top schools left on their schedule, such as Rockford, Mona Shores, and Allendale, before they head into the playoffs.

Ludington Orioles – (7-5, 5-1)

Sitting in second place and a near-perfect conference record, the Orioles stumbled against Whitehall earlier in the season. Although, even with the early season loss, the two will meet again with Ludington hosting. A win against Whitehall could shake up the final standings. Ludington suffered a narrow loss in double overtime to Spring Lake in the season opener. Since then, they have losses to Whitehall, Spring Lake (again), North Muskegon, and Cadillac. Taj Williams leads the Orioles in scoring with 19.6 points per game. Cam Gunsell follows with a near double-double, averaging 12.9 points and 9.3 rebounds per game.

Oakridge Eagles – (8-5, 3-2)

The Eagles find themselves in third place at the midway point of the season. Oakridge, who won a pair of games to open the season against Manistee and Ravenna, then suffered a three-point loss to Fruitport. Oakridge has four guys who average double digits: Peyton Ruel, Evan Jozsa, Evan Miller, and Bryson Stephenson. The team, led by head coach Tracy Ruel, has an outlier weapon that most squads don’t—a shifty guard and glass cleaner at the block. Ruel and Jozsa bring a Kobe/Shaq-Esque connection to this team. Both seniors, Ruel averages near six assists per game, as Jozsa rebounds at a 9.4 per game clip. The Eagles have won three of their last four and still have conference games against Whitehall and Ludington.

Orchard View Cardinals – (4-8, 2-3)

A middle-of-the-pack Orchard View team has shown much of an improvement from last season with a 4-8 record at the midway point. The Cardinals’ season opener was a bit unusual, with its first game facing in-conference foe Montague. The red and silver ended up dropping the game 40-29 and would soon fall behind to 0-3 overall with losses against Wyoming Tri-unity Christian and Belding. Orchard View found a hot spurt at the quarter mark when they jumped on the three-game winning streak train. Wyoming Lee, Fremont, and Mason County Central all fell victim to the Cardinals during that stretch. A meeting with Whitehall on Friday could be an opportunity to turn the season around.

Manistee Mariners – (4-7, 1-4)

The fifth-place Mariners squad has had its fair share of ups and downs throughout the season. After winning their season opener against Farwell, Manistee went on a six-game skid, which included losing three West Michigan Conference Lakes games. As of late, however, the Mariners have won back-to-back games against Hesperia and WMC foe Montague. Kaden Kott leads the team in points per game with 11.6 and assists per game with 4.7. Landin Sowa takes care of the rebound duties, averaging 7.7 per game so far this season. Manistee is beginning to claw its way back into the conversation to finish as a top three team in the Lakes division, and with Fremont and Orchard View on the horizon, the Mariners have the stingy defense to make a splash down the stretch.

Montague Wildcats – (3-8, 1-4)

A 30-point loss to Hart to start the season certainly isn’t ideal. Although, one game doesn’t define an entire campaign. Bouncing back with a win against host Orchard View in the season’s second game showed optimism for the Wildcat faithful. Montague would then play six games over the span of one month. Unfortunately for them, the Cats lost all six. Sitting at 1-7 overall, head coach Nick Thaler knew he needed to make some changes. Regardless of what those changes may have been, the squad north of Muskegon bounced back with a 29-point win against Newaygo. A narrow loss to Manistee last week, followed by a win against Ravenna, sets the Wildcats at a 3-8 record overall. Senior Kellan Francis leads the charge for Montague scoring thus far, averaging 7.3 points a night. Cole Herremans and Riley Mulder follow with six points apiece.

Fremont Packers – (3-9, 1-4)

Much like most of the teams in the Lakes division, the Packers opened their season with a decisive win against Shelby, 50-25. Soon after, however, Fremont had two away games and three home games on the horizon, losing all five to Ludington, Sparta, North Muskegon, Hart, and Oakridge. Fremont showed some signs of a high-powered offensive attack in its game against a similar Montague team, scoring 70 points. The Packers currently sit in last place in the WMC Lakes division. Although tied with both Montague and Manistee, their overall record is used to break up the tie. Redick Powell has entered the conversation as one of the WMC’s most underrated scorers with an average of 14.5 points per game.

Stay tuned for more “Midseason reviews” from the WMC Rivers as well as the OK-Green in the coming days!

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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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