WHITEHALL — Junior Camden Thompson is Whitehall’s centerpiece on the court, but what stood out to coach Christian Subdon late in the Vikings’ 71-62 win over Ludington Friday night was his star’s work off the court.
Subdon took Thompson out of the game with about 5:30 to go after Thompson was called for his fourth foul. The Orioles were surging, cutting a 17-point lead down to 10, and the coach sensed his star needed a quick rest, so he told Thompson he’d put him back in the game at the three-minute mark.
Thompson had another spectacular game in a career full of them, with 35 points and 22 rebounds, but once out of the game, he went to work on the bench as well.
“He’s out here coaching when I’m over here jumping and yelling and doing things,” Subdon said. “He’s out here coaching the guys and they’re engaged with him because they respect him. They care about him. That speaks volumes about him, because he’s a junior and he’s got seniors looking at him going, ‘I’ve got you.’”
The Vikings on the court, meanwhile, held down the fort. Kyle Stratton hit a pair of free throws after a Ludington technical foul, and Kal Koehler scored on the next possession. Stratton also drilled a dagger three-pointer late in the game. With the win, unbeaten Whitehall all but secured the outright West Michigan Conference Lakes title, needing only to win one of its remaining two games to finish the job.
“I don’t expect anything less than that,” Thompson said. “They’re amazing teammates. I wouldn’t want anyone else on my team. During the summer, we worked that chemistry up all the time. It’s just amazing to have those guys in there and I can always trust them, and they trust me.”
The teams battled back and forth throughout the first half, with Whitehall hampered by two fouls each called on Thompson, Stratton and Ca’Mar Ready. Subdon credited assistant coach Matthew Shepherd with a halftime adjustment against the Orioles’ zone that sparked Whitehall in the third quarter. The Vikings unleashed a terrific array of fast breaks - Thompson finished several of them, whether by himself or via tipping in a miss - to race out to a huge lead and get the packed arena fired up.
“It’s hard to play like that for 32 minutes, and Ludington makes you play like that for what feels like 60 minutes,” Subdon said. “I’m super proud of our guys for continuing to do that and buying into what we’re selling. The bottom line is, without them buying into what we’re saying, it doesn’t matter what we run. They’ve really bought in.”
While Thompson earned the offensive headlines, Subdon gave Stratton special mention for his defensive work on David Shillinger, the Orioles’ all-time leading scorer. Shillinger scored 22 points, but half of them came in the fourth quarter after Whitehall had built a significant lead.
“Kyle Stratton is built for the big moments,” Subdon said. “He hits the dagger three in the corner. He gets to the line and makes free throws. I don’t know how many (points) he had, but I don’t even care. He guards (David) Shillinger all night. He’s never tired. He started that game because he gave me every ounce of what he had.”
The impending outright WMC Lakes title means a lot to Whitehall, which had to share it with the Orioles last season. As Subdon put it, it’s one more box to check for a Vikings team that has its eyes on achieving some special things.
“We’ve got one more game to earn that,” Subdon said of the title. “(Fremont is) coming off a big win, and they’re looking to upset us. We’ve got to stay laser focused on them. It’s important to us. We just tied the best record ever in Whitehall history. We’re looking to surpass it. We’re looking to check off some more goals and add some more numbers to that banner.”
