WHITEHALL – As funny as it is seems now, Camden Thompson said he had a hard time getting into some Whitehall varsity basketball games a year ago, even though he was a celebrated prospect who was scheduled to join the team in a few short months.

“They had COVID crowd restrictions,” he said. “I had to sneak into some of them.”

As far-fetched as it seems now, Thompson said he had some real doubts about his ability to compete at the varsity level when he watched those games last season.

“It just seemed like a real high level of play, then in my first game this year it felt a little odd,” said Thompson, who only played one game of eight-grade basketball last year due to COVID scheduling restrictions. “Everything seemed to be going so fast. But the second game it just started really clicking for me, and it seemed like it was where I should be.”

Now it’s very clear to everyone that Thompson is not only ready for varsity competition – he’s one of the best offensive players in the area.

He’s averaging around 18 points and 13 rebounds per game, which are pretty amazing numbers for any high school player, let alone a skinny 15-year-old freshman.

What’s really fun is imagining the type of player he will be three years down the road, when he’s a senior who’s done growing and has mastered more skills.

“We talk about that all the time – we don’t know,” said Whitehall Coach Christian Subdon about Thompson’s long-term potential. “Cam is going to dictate that, and we’re going to do whatever we can to support him. He still has plenty of room for growth, and he’s always fine-tuning his craft. His upside is as high as he wants it to go. I know he wants to play Division 1 college basketball.”

To appreciate Thompson’s value to the Vikings this season, just take a quick look at the numbers.

Whitehall started the season with two straight losses and were 2-3 when the holidays rolled around. They hardly looked like a team capable of defending its 2020-21 West Michigan Conference championship.

Thompson did not play in those first five games due to an ankle injury he sustained in practice a few days before the season opener.

But he was ready to play after the holidays, and immediately added some crucial elements the Vikings had been lacking.

He had 15 points and 16 rebounds in his very first varsity game, against Montague, on Jan. 4. He broke loose for 27 points and 13 rebounds three days later against Hart.

Since then he’s been in double figures in every game. Some of his best performances have been against Mason County Central (21 points, 16 rebounds), Manistee (20 points, 14 rebounds), and Oakridge on Friday (25 points, 14 rebounds).

His highlight-reel game came on Feb. 4 in a 69-61 win over North Muskegon, when piled up 31 points and 18 rebounds.

“If you didn’t know about him, you would have thought that game was crazy for a freshman, but that was just one of many games like that for him,” Subdon said. “Two or three games before that he had 27 points.”

Since Thompson joined the lineup, the Vikings have won 9 of 11 games and are 11-5 overall and 9-3 in the conference. They are in first place in the conference, one game ahead of Ravenna with two league games left to play.

“When Cam came back, it really opened up the floor for us,” Subdon said. “Opponents can’t just focus on Red Watson or Brody Fogus. They have to worry about another 6-4 player.”

Thompson, a tall guard, gets his points from the perimeter and the paint.

He has a great mid-range outside shot, and he’s also fearless in crashing the boards, getting tons of offensive rebounds and putting them back for points.

“His mid-range game is insane,” Subdon said. “He’s 6-foot-4 and he can elevate. He also gets a lot of putbacks. If he scores 18 points in a game, he might have eight of those off from putbacks. He hits the boards every single time. If they don’t box him out for a single second he will be at the rim, and he hits the rim extremely hard.

“His body control in the air is unreal. He also uses the glass (for putback buckets) like you don’t see anymore. He always assumes that our shots are going to miss, and he doesn’t let an opportunity for a rebound go by.”

Thompson downplays the impact he’s had on the team, and says the Vikings simply improved this season as they became more familiar with each other.

“I just think we are getting along a lot better,” he said. “It was different at the beginning of the season, because we weren’t used to playing together.”

When asked how well he’s been accepted by the older players on the team, Thompson said, “They’re really cool. They’re always making jokes about it, just in a teasing way. Sometimes they’re like ‘You’re a freshman, clean up the balls.’”

So does he actually take those orders and gather up the basketballs after practice?

“Most of the time,” he said. “I don’t want them to be mad at me.”

With so much success as a freshman, some people have advised Thompson to stick with basketball exclusively, develop his skills as much as possible and cash in with a scholarship at a major college. He says he definitely wants to play Division 1 college basketball someday, but has no intention of quitting his other varsity sports – football and track – and Subdon completely supports that decision,

“I find a lot of sports fun,” Thompson said. “They tell me I should quit football, but I’m just a competitive person.”