Christian Subdon has been stressing a one-game-at-a-time mentality to his Whitehall boys basketball team and it’s worked out well so far: The Vikings are still unbeaten.
Up next is a meaningful one. Whitehall (7-0) takes on Fruitport (4-2) in the opener of the 21st annual Muskegon Area Sports Hall of Fame Holiday Classic at 3 p.m. Wednesday at Reeths-Puffer High School’s Beckeman Center.
Whitehall has been wanting another shot at Fruitport since the Trojans knocked off the Vikings, 77-69 in overtime, in a Division 2 district semifinal last March at Fruitport.
“Yeah, we think about it, right, but they’re doing a really good job of focusing because if we weren’t focused (last Wednesday against Hamtramck) or (last Friday against East Grand Rapids), we lose the game,” Subdon said. “We focused on Hamtramck, then we focused on EGR, and now we’re locked in on Fruitport.
“We want to play them. We’re excited to get the opportunity to play them at an awesome venue in the Muskegon Hall of Fame Classic. We’re just excited for the chance.”
Whitehall posted two impressive victories in the Cornerstone Holiday Classic last week: 61-51 over Hamtramck and 70-52 over East Grand Rapids.
In each of the last two Muskegon Area Sports Hall of Fame Classics, North Muskegon and Orchard View have squared off in the opener with those teams splitting the games.
The Hall of Fame Classic committee looked to shake things up a bit with a new kickoff game in 2023.
The other two Hall of Fame Classic matchups Wednesday feature Reeths-Puffer (4-1) vs. Coopersville (6-0) at 4:45 p.m. and Muskegon (2-0) vs. Grand Rapids Ottawa Hills (2-1) in the 7 p.m. nightcap.
Admission is $5 for the day at the door and it covers the entire event, all three levels. This is a fund-raising event, so no passes will be accepted. Proceeds will be split between participating schools and the Muskegon Area Sports Hall of Fame.
Freshman games will begin at approximately 10 a.m., followed by junior varsity contests at 11:45 a.m.
Here is a schedule of the day’s games from freshman to varsity:
FRESHMAN
10 a.m.: Fruitport vs. Whitehall (aux gym)
10 a.m.: Reeths-Puffer vs. Coopersville (Beckeman Center)
11:45 a.m.: Muskegon vs. Ottawa Hills (aux gym)
JUNIOR VARSITY
11:45 a.m.: Reeths-Puffer vs. Coopersville (Beckeman Center)
1:30 p.m.: Fruitport vs. Whitehall (aux gym)
1:30 p.m.: Muskegon vs. Ottawa Hills (Beckeman Center)
VARSITY
3 p.m.: Fruitport vs. Whitehall (Beckeman Center)
4:45 p.m.: Coopersville vs. Reeths-Puffer (Beckeman Center)
7 p.m.: Grand Rapids Ottawa Hills vs. Muskegon (Beckeman Center)
