MONTAGUE — All other things being equal, any coach would rather have an experience advantage in the postseason, and the Montague Wildcats exploited theirs early and often in Wednesday's district semifinal against Whitehall.
Playing with supreme confidence on both ends of the court, Montague quickly took control of the game and built a huge lead, cruising to a 51-22 win and earning a date with Spring Lake in Friday's final.
"It's huge in the postseason," Montague coach Jess DeBruin said of having experience. "These girls have been playing together for years, and not just this sport. Having that connection with each other helps a ton."
Montague exploded with a 21-3 scoring run that spanned over a quarter of game time, swelling 4-2 lead to 25-5 and making it very difficult for the Vikings to come back. Hot shooting helped; the 'Cats haven't been known for big numbers from the guard position this year, but Adilynn Peterson and Avah Vandermeulen enjoyed great starts shooting the ball, which only bolstered the team's confidence. The two combined for 20 points in the win, leading a very balanced score sheet.
"That's always a big deal for us," Peterson said of early shot-making. "As soon as someone makes a shot, we're all excited and it encourages everyone else."
The early success offensively also served to embolden Montague's already tenacious press defense, and the Wildcats were able to fluster Whitehall's much younger backcourt into several early turnovers and rushed possessions.
"That was five seniors playing against not five seniors, and you could tell," Whitehall coach Brian Milliron said. "We've been there. It's a tough way to lose...They were faster than us. It was visibly so. Mentally we were slower and physically we were slower. We've got to fix that."
Montague could have easily gone into cruise control after taking the big lead, but it continued to force the issue and was largely rewarded for it. The lead continued to grow, albeit more slowly, the rest of the way.
DeBruin said the Wildcats were motivated in part by recent slow starts, and they certainly played like it Wednesday.
"They wanted to make it to the district championship game, and they wanted to beat Whitehall for the third time," DeBruin said. "That gave us that momentum and that spark at the beginning."
Montague's bench was also into it from the start, getting on their feet as shot after shot went in. That carried all the way to the end of the game, when the reserves were in and Annelyse Schneider knocked down a three-pointer in the final seconds.
It was a bitter way to end things for Whitehall's four seniors: Sidney Shepherd, Lianne Fagan, Grace McDowell and Megan LeaTrea. For sophomore Clare Westerlund, who had a team-best nine points, and freshman Peyton Schultz, the loss will be fuel to improve after promising starts to their careers.
"I know (they) are going to get in the gym between now and next November," Milliron said. "That's a good thing to (know)."
Montague, meanwhile, will likely need another game like Wednesday's to knock off top seed Spring Lake, which edged Fruitport in another semifinal. Some of the senior Wildcats were part of their last team to play against the Lakers, a loss during the 2022-23 season.
"We'll have to do the same things we did tonight, but harder," Peterson said. "We'll have to do everything with a little more effort. I think we can do it, but we've got to play our hardest because this could be our last game."
