Photos by Shayla Hardy for CatchMark
Christian Subdon knew this could be a special season for his Whitehall boys basketball team, so he loaded up the Vikings’ schedule.
Subdon anticipated some major tests along the way. He wasn’t anticipating his group acing this season-long exam, but that’s what happened.
Division 2 second-ranked Whitehall completed a perfect regular season for the first time in school history, capping it with a 75-57 victory in a road challenge against Oakridge Thursday night.
The Vikings (22-0 overall), who finished 12-0 in the West Michigan Conference Lakes Division, found themselves trailing the fired-up Eagles 18-10 after the first quarter on senior night. They responded with a big second quarter and led 30-26 at the break before stretching the lead to 53-40 through three quarters.
Whitehall has won a conference championship for the fourth straight season.
Whitehall is proud of the achievement, but the Vikings are shifting their focus to next week’s district tournament at Orchard View. Whitehall is the top seed in the Division 2 district and will play at 5 p.m. Wednesday against the winner of Monday’s opener between Montague (13-9) and Spring Lake (10-11).
Oakridge (15-7, 7-5 WMC Lakes) is the second seed in the Orchard View district. The Eagles will play at 7 p.m. Wednesday against the winner of Monday’s other opener between Orchard View (5-16) and Fruitport (5-16).
The district final at OV is set for 7 p.m. next Friday (March 1).
In Whitehall’s first meeting against Oakridge this season on Jan. 11 at Whitehall, the Eagles hung around in early going before the Vikings got rolling and pulled away for a 91-54 rout.
Thursday night, Oakridge put Whitehall in a position it has not been in a lot this season: A deficit of five or more points. Even though the Eagles relinquished the lead in the second quarter, they were still hanging with the Vikings entering halftime.
Photos by Emily Vanderstelt for CatchMark
After a pretty even first half, Whitehall outscored Oakridge in the second half, 43-31.
Junior Camden Thompson led Whitehall with 18 points and 16 rebounds. Senior Ca’Mar Ready scored 13 for the Vikings, while senior Kyle Stratton had 10.
Oakridge junior Peyton Ruel led all scorers with 19 points. Senior Brody Jennings had 12 points for the Eagles, while senior Jullian Primmer and junior Evan Jozsa added seven points apiece.
