WHITEHALL — Last season, Whitehall coach Christian Subdon beefed up his team’s schedule in hopes of preparing the Vikings for the district tournament. The team, somewhat unexpectedly, went 22-0 against that schedule, but a district upset at the hands of Spring Lake left a bad taste in its mouth.
So Subdon went even harder with the schedule, signing on to face “anybody and everybody that will schedule us.” The Vikes face those same Lakers, as well as Rockford, Hudsonville, Mona Shores, Reeths-Puffer, Forest Hills Central, Coopersville and more.
“We’re tired of getting to the point in the season where we think we’re ready and then we get into a game in the districts and we lose,” Subdon said. “We’re going to put ourselves in hostile situations and hostile environments...We just want to make sure we’re prepared for when it really matters.”
The record should still be pretty good at the end of the regular season, though, as the team is led by a pair of star seniors. Camden Thompson, a three-time all-state player, is of course the headliner. A regular 20-point, 20-rebound guy, Thompson is already the program’s all-time leading scorer and will spend this season building that mark up to nearly unreachable heights.
Subdon joked that there’s really no more statistical goals he can set for Thompson, and this year he’s pushing the senior to flex his leadership muscles. Last season there were several seniors in place to spearhead the Vikings, but this season Thompson, along with fellow four-year varsity player Kal Koehler, is an unquestioned leader.
“I’m looking for him to continuously bring kids along, be a leader on the floor, because we’re going to be in some tough environments,” Subdon said. “I didn’t see 22-0 in our forecast last year, so I don’t really see it this year. We want to compete, though, so in those games, he’s got to be the person. He’s played in a lot of big games with his AAU (team) and things like that. There’s some kids that haven’t. He’s got to pull them along with him.”
Koehler, too, will be a huge factor again for the Vikings. With Thompson likely to do some more ballhandling this season, Koehler will get his chances in the paint, and the duo should rack up rebounds. Brock Morningstar doesn’t pile up the numbers his veteran teammates do, but he was a key piece of last season’s team as a sixth man and should be at least as important to the team this winter.
There are some other returning players, but each will likely see much larger roles than before. Hunter Osborne and Corde Anderson, both football players like Thompson, bring athleticism and speed to their positions and should fit right in with the fast-paced style Subdon prefers to play. Senior Cy Black and Evan Thomas, who spent most of last season on the JV, will also see big minutes.
One player who is adding a lot to his shoulders this year is Finn Muller, who Subdon said will see some time at point guard, filling the shoes of graduated star Kyle Stratton. Muller has gotten a bit taller and much stronger since he last took the court, and he’s ready for the rigors of West Michigan Conference Lakes play.
The conference should again be competitive. Ludington is a constant threat at the top of the league, and Subdon expects Oakridge, who finished third last season, to make its presence known as well. Showcasing the depth of the conference, fifth-place Fremont won a district title last year, so even the supposed lesser teams in the league won’t be easy outs.
Subdon is optimistic that while his team isn’t quite as top-to-bottom experienced as it was last year, the battles Thompson and Koehler in particular have faced over the past few seasons will have the team ready to respond in big moments.
“We want to be in the game at the end with a chance to win it,” Subdon said. “Whatever happens after that, I’m okay with. Then hopefully when we get to the district, we can say there isn’t a team that’s in this district that we haven’t played better than.”
