WHITEHALL — After a season spent playing high-octane non-league opponents away from home, the Whitehall Vikings finally got one on their turf Friday, and they delivered an atmosphere worthy of the occasion to earn a 67-59 win over Covenant Christian.
The Vikings (16-0) took command of the game in the third quarter, shredding the Chargers on the fast break, and held off a late run by Covenant to avenge a Charger win in Grand Rapids last season.
Coach Christian Subdon said trying to outrace Covenant was the game plan all along and credited his team with sticking to the plan even when the Chargers hung tough early on.
“That’s kind of the way we play,” Subdon said. “We fast break, fast break, fast break, and it just kind of breaks you down, and then it finally hits home. When it hits home it’s usually an uncontested layup, and that’s what happened tonight. Credit to our guys to continue the game plan, and continue to do the things that weren’t necessarily working in the first and second quarter.”
As usual, junior Camden Thompson was the engine for Whitehall, going for 28 points, 14 rebounds and five assists, but it was Kal Koehler who sparked the Vikings early on, knocking down a pair of open three-pointers to give his team an early lead. Koehler drilled an open trey early in the third quarter to get his team out on the right foot in the second half as well. He had 17 points in the game.
“He works his absolute butt off and it shows,” Subdon said of Koehler. “He’s gotten stronger. He’s going to lift right now. It’s what he does. He does the things right and he finds himself in a position where our guys trust him to take the shots.”
Thompson picked up the baton from Koehler and controlled much of the rest of the game. Normally not prone to showing much emotion on the court, Thompson got fired up a couple of times during the game, especially when converting and-one baskets.
The Vikings’ forward was coming off struggling from the field against Mona Shores, and that, plus the memories of losing to the Chargers last year, fueled him during the game.
“Throughout the game, I was just thinking how they got us last year, and they were talking a little bit,” Thompson smiled. “I just wanted to put numbers on them and show that we’re a different team this year. We’re about it this year. I just felt it coming within me and I just started doing what I do, just trusting my team.”
Whitehall built its lead close to 20 points before the Chargers stormed back, getting the margin down to seven and forcing a couple of Viking timeouts along the way. Subdon pulled Thompson and Kyle Stratton off the bench at one point during the run to stem the tide.
“Credit to them, they played really hard from the start to the finish,” Subdon said of Covenant Christian. “We took our foot off the gas - a couple bad play calls on my part. We started getting a little tight, not necessarily trying to up the lead, just keep the lead. Live and learn. I’m still a young coach, so we’re learning.”
Both Subdon and Thompson said they loved the crowd noise at the game. Whitehall fans filled up most of their allotted sections, and a spirited group from Covenant inspired them to keep the noise up throughout the contest.
“It was great,” Thompson said. “We don’t really get big crowds like this popping out, so a game like this with a lot of people here, it’s great we can fill this place up. I feel like it makes us play better too.”
When Whitehall put together its ambitious non-conference schedule, the goal was to get better for the postseason, not necessarily to go undefeated. However, the Vikings feel they have accomplished both.
“That’s our word, is compete,” Subdon said. “It’s written in our locker room. There’s a reason for it. We want to compete our butts off, and that’s what they’ve done. They did it in the summer and then they’ve continued it. We always say, that loss to Fruitport (last year) has to mean something. It doesn’t bring our seniors back, but it means that we don’t want to have that happen this year.”
