Whitehall boys basketball gets quick start, big win at Fremont

FREMONT — Despite winning three in a row and eight of its last nine coming into Friday's game at Fremont, Whitehall hadn't been fully satisfied with its play and wanted a quicker start. The Vikings certainly delivered that Friday, rolling to a 74-33 West Michigan Conference Lakes win.

The Vikings raced out to an 11-2 lead in what seemed no time at all, with an and-one by Camden Thompson forcing a Packers timeout. That did little to stop the onslaught, though, and Whitehall led 27-5 after a quarter, never looking back.

"We really wanted to play us versus us," Whitehall coach Christian Subdon said. "We felt that we were the better team. No discredit to Fremont; they're young and they're going to be a really good team moving down the stretch. We wanted to come out and give the best energy game that we've given, and we did that. Weirdly enough, shots started going in. We started making layups. We're making plays. We're pushing the ball. All great things."

The team hardly needed it, but Thompson provided some extra energy with a first-quarter dunk on a breakaway. He tried to add an extra highlight with a windmill slam in the second quarter but came up empty; it was one of only three misses for him on the night as he went 10-of-13 with 27 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists. He also had four steals.

"Getting one of those early, I feel like, really brings a lot of energy to our team," Thompson said of his propensity to throw it down. "Especially early on in the game, but also to try to show what I'm about too. I tried to pull out a little windmill tonight, but that didn't go too well. I just got a little nervous, but I'm going to try to get some cooler dunks."

Whitehall was also outstanding from the three-point line early, hitting six treys in the first half and going into the locker room up 46-11. One of them, by Brock Morningstar, exemplified the kind of offense Subdon hopes to play and was a highlight play for point guard Finn Muller.

"We've been hounding him and hounding him to move the ball and not to dribble the air out of it," Subdon said of Muller, who had three assists to go with eight points. "He did phenomenal tonight. There was a time where he got the ball off an outlet. I'm not sure that he took a dribble - maybe it was one to get his bearings - threw it up the sideline to Brock and Brock hit a three. The ball hit the ground one time in a whole possession."

The Vikings' pace didn't continue into the second half, but they cruised on to the win and were able to get the deep reserves into the game, which Subdon said is something the starters take pride in doing when they get the opportunity. The starters got fired up for their teammates when it was their turn to enter the game.

"I think they hunt for their teammates," Subdon said. "They do care about them. They know how hard they work. They're working the same that (the starters) are on an everyday basis. It's their job to make our guys better, and they're doing that on an everyday basis."

"They work their tails off at practice," Thompson said of his teammates. "They deserve to play as much as we do. Us doing that is just showing, I feel like, some respect to those guys."

Morningstar had 11 points for Whitehall, and Kal Koehler grabbed six boards to go with his eight points. Hunter Osborne had eight points, too.

The 46-point first half provided a template, Thompson said, for what the Vikings want to be going forward.

"We've just got to show what we're about," Thompson said. "We haven't been playing our best basketball throughout all four quarters, and we know that. We came out the first two quarters with fire with energy...That first half is how we always have to play."