WHITEHALL – The Whitehall boys basketball team has been struggling with free throws throughout the young season.
That trend continued into Tuesday night, when the Vikings came back from their holiday break to face rival Montague in a West Michigan Conference matchup.
At one point Whitehall missed 11 straight shots from the line, between the first and third quarter. They only made 5 of 16 free throw attempts through the first three quarters.
But the moral of the story is an old but important one – if at first the shots don’t fall, just focus and keep trying.
The Vikings did that and the free throws started to drop when they mattered the most. Whitehall converted 10 of 17 free throws in the fourth quarter to defeat previously unbeaten Montague 53-43 in a rather ragged, mistake-prone game in the Vikings’ home gym.
[1]The victory helped Whitehall jump-start the main part of its season. The Vikings came in with a 2-3 record, but played tough and held on to the lead for most of the game, even when the shots weren’t falling.
“We had good ball pressure, and we made enough plays at the end to win it,” said first-year Whitehall Coach Christian Subdon, who won his very first game against the rival Wildcats. “It was a physical game. That’s what it is between Whitehall and Montague. They came and played physical, we played physical, and the refs did a good job of controlling that. I thought it was great.
“We made enough (free throws) in the end to make it count. I don’t know why or what it is, but we’re not great at the line right now, but we can correct that. That’s the great part about a long basketball season.”
The biggest star for Whitehall on an otherwise so-so offensive evening was sophomore Kyle Stratton, who finished with a game-high 20 points, including 11 in the fourth quarter.
[2]He converted 5 of 8 free throws in the final quarter and 7 of 11 on the night.
Stratton’s performance was reminiscent of the football season, when he won the starting quarterback job and led Whitehall to a lot of important victories.
“It’s been rough so far, but we’ve got to keep working, and we’re getting better every week,” Stratton said, when asked about his team’s free throw challenges and slow start to the season. “It’s always nice to beat Montague. We knew we were going to bring it for our rival, and it worked out.”
Whitehall caught Montague on a very bad offensive night. The Wildcats only made 16 of 57 shots from the floor and hurt themselves with 14 turnovers, many of them unforced.
Montague got the first two buckets on the game and led 4-0, but Whitehall got a 3-pointer from Isaac DeHart, buckets from Red Watson and Nate Bolley, and a pair of free throws from Brodie Fogus to take a 12-6 lead after one quarter.
[3]Freshman Camden Thompson and Jack Houtteman each hit triples in the second quarter, and the Vikings led 24-16 at halftime.
Montague’s Tugg Nichols hit a 3-pointer with about three minutes left in the third quarter, pulling the Wildcats within one point, 26-25. But Whitehall responded with a 7-2 run over the rest of the third, capped by a 3-pointer from Stratton, and led 33-27 headed into the fourth.
The free throws finally started falling for the Vikings in the fourth, helping them close out the upset victory. Stratton had three baskets and five three throws down the stretch.
Tugg Nichols paced Montague (3-1) with 13 points while Tate Stine scored 11.
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