WHITEHALL — Jitters were understandable last Thursday night as Whitehall and Montague, each fresh off their season openers, took the court for a rivalry battle.
It took until the second half, but the Wildcats in particular shook off those jitters and got their offense going, scoring a 47-27 win.
It was a bit of a revenge game for Montague (1-1, 1-0 WMC Lakes), which was upset by the Vikings the last time the teams tangled, in March’s district finals. Adding to the game’s context was Kendall Osborne, a former all-state star at Montague, transferring to Whitehall in the offseason. Osborne led the Vikings (0-2, 0-1 WMC Lakes) with 12 points in defeat, and also had six steals.
“We wanted it, especially after what they did to us in districts (last year),” Montague coach Jess DeBruin said. “These girls wanted it. Kendall transferring was tough on the girls. It was tough on her. I understand that she’s in a tough position. We wanted that way more than them.”
Montague’s offensive struggles in an opening loss to Newaygo carried into the first half Thursday, but luckily for the Wildcats, the same was true of Whitehall. The two teams only scored two points each for the first 6:28 of the game before Montague added four more prior to the first quarter’s end.
Though Montague began pulling away in the second quarter, halftime saw the score still sitting at just 16-5 in favor of the visitors.
That was when the ‘Cats began employing a more fast-paced, transition-style attack, turning defensive stops into easy points at the other end. That seemed to ignite Montague’s shooters, particularly Addison Pranger, who had 13 second-half points on her way to a game-high 16.
It probably helped that Pranger went into the gym prior to school Thursday to get some extra shots up. She said she was joined by the rest of her team after school Thursday prior to the game, too.
“It bothered me that much,” Pranger said of the Wildcats’ struggles against Newaygo. “I just knew that I needed to find my shot, and going in this morning, I think, really helped to build my confidence for today.”
Whitehall’s struggles haven’t been that surprising, given how little experience the team returned. All five starters were among the seven to graduate from last season’s Vikings, so some fits and starts as the new players build an on-court rapport were to be expected.
The good news for the team and coach Brian Milliron is the Vikings know they can turn around a slow offensive start. They just did it last year, scoring seven points in an early loss to Ludington but ultimately winning the district title.
“The winter sports, basketball especially, is a long season,” Milliron said. “There’s going to be ups and downs and as long as we can stay together during these downs at the beginning, hopefully the ups will come and we’ll be able to knock some shots down. Having that fresh in our memory, and the banner put up this week, hopefully will reiterate the fact that, no matter where we’re at now, if we work in practice and mentally get ourselves prepared, anything can happen.”
Montague did lose senior Braylyn Bultema to a knee injury during the game, briefly forcing DeBruin back into her prior role as head athletic trainer for the team. She said she checked on Bultema several times during the game but otherwise focused on her new role coaching.
Pranger said Montague’s defense focused on limiting three-point opportunities for Osborne and Lexi Daggett, knowing both could fill it up from beyond the arc. Mission accomplished, as neither hit a long-distance shot until Montague had built an insurmountable lead in the fourth quarter. Daggett did lead Whitehall with eight rebounds.
“I think that’s the main thing, is that we have a lot to prove, and I think we did,” Pranger said. “I think we showed everybody what kind of team we can be, and this is something we can just build off of. I’m really proud of how we played tonight.”
