WHITEHALL — Camden Thompson and Kyle Stratton said that their top-ranked football team’s stunning 28-27 loss to Big Rapids in November’s Division 4 district finals had no bearing on Monday night’s nonleague basketball clash with the Cardinals.
The comments of teammate Brock Morningstar may suggest otherwise. And with Big Rapids students sporting football jerseys in their student section at Whitehall’s gym, it was still on the minds of at least some of the Cardinals.
Regardless, this Division 2 fifth-ranked Whitehall basketball team has plenty of motivation and continued its unbeaten run by overwhelming Big Rapids, 75-27, in nonleague action to move to 17-0.
Thompson, a 6-foot-5 junior wing, powered the Vikings with 21 points on 9-of-11 shooting. He filled the stat sheet with 14 rebounds, eight assists, and two blocks.
Photos by Shayla Hardy for CatchMark
Morningstar, a 5-10 junior guard, delivered 17 points — about 8 higher than his season average –on 7-of-11 marksmanship.
Whitehall junior forward Kal Koehler had 13 points and four rebounds. Stratton, a senior guard, added eight points, five assists, and three rebounds. Whitehall senior guard Camar Ready notched six points, six assists, and four steals.
For Big Rapids (11-5), Ty Gielczyk led the way with eight points.
Next up for Whitehall, 7-0 in the West Michigan Conference Lakes Division, is a home clash with neighboring rival Montague (10-6, 4-4 WMC Lakes) on Thursday night. The Wildcats have won five of their last six games. In the teams’ previous meeting on Dec. 14 at Montague, Whitehall rolled to a 66-35 victory.
Photos by Scott DeCamp | CatchMark
