MONTAGUE — For the first half of Friday's rivalry battle at
Montague, the game was unfolding as visiting Whitehall would've
preferred, with a deliberate pace and low scoring. However, the Wildcats
turned up the speed in the second half and pulled away to score a 47-34
win to remain unbeaten on the season.
The Vikings led 9-7 at
halftime after scoring the final seven points of the second quarter on a
three-pointer by Lexi Daggett and buckets from Peyton Schultz and Clare
Westerlund. Out of halftime, the Wildcats appeared much more decisive
and determined to attack the basket with their superior size, and were
also very effective with their full-court press on defense.
"That frustrated them big time," Montague coach Jess DeBruin said. "They didn't know what to do. That's how
we play basketball. We pressure them. We make passes. We move the ball.
When we play together and move the ball around, and we make baskets, you
see what happens."
Amanda Cederquist was a big part of
Montague's early third-quarter run, scoring six points in the frame.
Addison Pranger scored a pair of quick baskets as well, forcing a
Whitehall timeout as the lead ballooned to 23-14.
"I think we went into the locker room and we said, 'We want this.' We
decided we wanted to win," Cederquist said. "We came out and we hustled. We worked together
and played as a team. That's the big difference."
Montague
(4-0, 2-0 West Michigan Conference Lakes), already getting regular
scoring from Addison Pranger and Braylyn Bultema early in the season,
added Cederquist to the scoring parade Friday, as Cederquist joined her
two teammates in double figures. She had 10 points, with Pranger scoring
13 and Bultema 11.
"When you
have three different players that you've got to guard, it's hard
for any high school team to guard them (all)," DeBruin said. "Usually, Bray and
Addison are the ones that have been scoring the points for us the last
couple games, but Amanda stepped up big time tonight. She rebounded the
crap out of the basketball and got tons of
putbacks, and she was diving after loose balls."
Montague's Amanda Cederquist tries to rip the ball away from Whitehall's Janie Fagan during Friday's game at Montague. The Wildcats won, 47-34.
The Wildcats
were very efficient after shifting their focus to attacking the hoop,
which DeBruin said is a point of emphasis this year due to the
experience and height they have.
"Attacking the basket is definitely where we want to be, especially on
the free throw line," DeBruin said. "Free throws win games, and that's going to help us
big time."
Montague probably would've enjoyed a much
larger scoring margin but for the shooting of Daggett, who drained four
three-pointers in the second half and five overall, going for a
game-high 21 points. Coach Brian Milliron would've liked to see Daggett
take even more shots.
"One of the things we have to
work on is, when someone is hot, whether it's Lex or whoever, we
can't go then, after she hits a couple, three or four times down the
court without her getting a touch," Milliron said. "That's something where we got
a little tunnel vision. You've got to go find that
kid that's hot, because she might go hit another one."
The
Viking coach also noted that Montague starts five seniors this season,
comparing the advantage of such an experienced lineup to when his own
team did so in 2022-23 en route to a district championship.
"Jess
has got a good team," Milliron said. "When you start five seniors, like
what we had a couple years ago, there's little things that
having that experience with five seniors...just makes
games run a little bit smoother. I thought Montague did a
great job with that."
At the same time, Whitehall (1-2, 0-1
WMC Lakes) felt there were positives it could take from the loss.
Although the Montague press certainly affected the Viking offense, it
didn't completely shut them down the way Shelby's press did in the
season opener. The young Whitehall roster is quickly gaining in
experience.
"A lot of times, the ball was being handled by a
sophomore or a freshman. They didn't play like sophomores and freshmen,"
Milliron said. "We did pretty well with it in the first half...I think
we got a little
tunnel vision, and those are things that are
easily correctable. I was very proud of how all the girls fought
today."
Montague considers itself a strong contender for the
WMC Lakes title this year, and it'll have a big early test on its way to
that status this week when it travels to face Fremont, which already
has wins over Ludington and Hart under its belt. Montague, however,
doesn't appear to be a team easily intimidated by any matchup.
"We have to keep working together...We've got to lock in on game days," Cederquist said. "I think this year we have a
good team dynamic. We all want to win for each other and that's a
big part of it. Our shots are falling right now and I hope they keep
falling."
