Whitehall guard Devontae Vance (left) tries to get to the basket as Spring Lake’s Adam Clauss defends during Friday night’s district championship game at Orchard View. Vance had a team-high 14 points, but Whitehall fell just short in a 53-46 loss to the L

However, Spring Lake’s Austin Johnson made sure it wouldn’t be, taking over the game in the second half and guiding his Lakers past Whitehall, 53-46, for a district title.

The Vikings ended the season at 9-13, but they looked much better than that record through much of the contest.

“I always talk about competing and giving effort,” Whitehall coach Nate Aardema said. “They left it all on the floor. That’s all we’ve ever asked of the kids. They showed great character in terms of how they battled.”

Indeed, the Vikings had an answer for almost every attempt by the Lakers to take control of the game, especially early on. Whitehall kept getting open looks and consistently knocked them down. All told, the Vikings had eight three-pointers, half by Love.

However, they couldn’t figure out Johnson.

The Lakers’ senior guard has the body of a forward and exhibited great touch on his shots as he kept knocking down field goals, each one seemingly more difficult than the last. Johnson’s 26 points proved lethal to Whitehall.

The game remained tight throughout, though, and when Matt Rohen hit a driving layup with 2:55 to go to cut the Lakers’ lead to 47-45, momentum seemed to be turning in Whitehall’s favor.

However, the Vikings turned the ball over on the next two possessions, and a jumper by Erik Johnson put the Lakers back up by four. Though a Devontae Vance free throw cut that lead to three with under a minute left, Johnson made sure the Vikes would get no closer by knocking down key free throws.

“Austin Johnson’s such a great foul shooter and he’s so strong with the ball,” Aardema said. “Tonight, we were two or three plays away from feeling great and instead we’re heartbroken. That’s how life goes.”

Vance led Whitehall with 14 points, while Love had 12. Spring Lake, like just about every Vikings’ opponent, keyed on Love defensively. Unlike most Vikings’ opponents, they were largely successful in containing him, as Love simply couldn’t find an open spot from which to shoot.

“They were really physical with him,” Aardema said. “They threw a couple of different bodies on him and pressed into him. He had a couple of looks, but we had a few turnovers and he didn’t get as many shots. Spring Lake did a great job on him.”

Frank Owens and Rohen each had seven points for the Vikings.

In addition to Austin Johnson’s 26, Erik Johnson added 15 points and Nicholas Goeglein had eight.

Aardema, who has expressed increasing pride in his team as their level of play has improved this year, was clearly happy with his squad Friday, even in defeat.

“I talk about the difference between winners and losers,” Aardema said. “Winners do everything our kids did tonight. The scorebook just didn’t say it. We played as winners. I’m extremely proud of our effort.”

WHITEHALL (46) Vance 4 4-6 14, Medendorp 1 0-0 2, Owens 3 0-0 7, Rohen 3 0-0 7, Russell 2 0-0 4, Love 4 0-0 12. Totals 17 4-6 46.

SPRING LAKE (53) Batts 1 0-0 3, Warber 0 1-4 1, A. Johnson 10 4-6 26, E. Johnson 6 2-2 15, Goeglein 3 2-4 8. Totals 20 9-16 53.

Whitehall.......13 17 9 7 — 46

Spring Lake.....14 14 11 14 — 53

Three-point goals — Vance 2, Owens 1, Rohen 1, Love 4, Batts 1, A. Johnson 2, E. Johnson 1. Total fouls — Whitehall 15, Spring Lake 9. Fouled out — Russell.

Whitehall edges

Oakridge in semis

MUSKEGON — Whitehall raced out to a huge early lead and managed to stave off the Oakridge Eagles Wednesday night to advance to the district finals with a 50-48 win.

The Vikings had split with Oakridge during the regular season, but with Wednesday’s win have now defeated six of the last eight West Michigan Conference opponents on their schedule.

Whitehall surged into a 23-11 lead through a quarter thanks to hot shooting from senior star Isaac Love, who poured in 13 points in the first quarter alone. Devontae Vance had seven in the first quarter.

The Vikings cooled off the remainder of the game, but were able to play good enough defense to hold off the Eagles.

Love had 17 points in the game, while Vance added 12. Matt Rohen had nine points, while Matt Russell scored six and had eight rebounds.

Mike Eacker had 16 points and Joey Warren had 10 for the Eagles.

OAKRIDGE (48) Warren 4 2-2 10, Wahr 1 1-1 3, Decker 3 0-0 9, Wright 3 0-0 8, Gonyon 0 2-2 2, Eacker 4 8-14 16. Totals 15 13-19 48.

WHITEHALL (50) DeCouto 1 0-1 2, Vance 5 0-2 12, Owens 2 0-0 4, Rohen 2 4-5 9, Russell 1 4-6 6, Love 6 2-2 17. Totals 17 10-16 50.

Oakridge......11 16 10 11 — 48

Whitehall.....23 8 10 9 — 50

Three-point goals — Decker 3, Wright 2, Vance 2, Rohen 1, Love 3. Total fouls — Oakridge 13, Whitehall 18. Fouled out — Russell.

Shelby upsets

Montague in semis

HOLTON — After Shelby and Montague played two instant classics during the regular season, splitting the two matchups, Wednesday night’s battle between the squads was hotly anticipated.

However, the Tigers wasted little time sucking the drama from the contest, taking quick control and never really letting it go to earn an 83-71 win and bring a premature end to a successful season for Montague.

“It’s a disappointing end to a great season,” Montague coach Dave Osborne said. “We didn’t end where we wanted to, but every other team in Class C but one is going to end with a loss. Ours just came a little earlier than we wanted.”

The ‘Cats struggled early on offense, taking more than six minutes to record their first field goal, by Luke VanBoxel. But when Chase Casebolt buried a three on the next possession, Montague appeared back on track.

Shelby canned three treys in the final two minutes of the first quarter, though, and Montague was down 19-10 after a quarter.

The Tigers never cooled off, making nine threes as a team. Five came from point guard Jason Beckman, who had 26 points for Shelby.

“They shot well,” Osborne said. “If you shoot well, you can make a lot of defenses look bad. It wasn’t like we were out of position. They were just making their shots and we weren’t.”

Montague only lost twice in the regular season, so when the Tigers’ lead swelled throughout the second and third quarters, reaching 22 at one point, it was uncharted territory.

Still, the Wildcats were inevitably going to storm back, and they started doing so in the fourth quarter,

Montague pulled within 14 after senior forward Brandon Moore threw down a vicious dunk through contact and sank the free throw, and would later pull as close as nine thanks to several triples by Casebolt. But the Tigers were able to dissect Montague’s full-court press for easy layups.

“We missed some assignments,” Osborne said. “We knew they would try to go long, and we talked about it during the timeouts. I think the guys were so aggressive in trying to make something happen that they overplayed. If you get down by 20, you have to pull out everything you can.”

Casebolt led the Wildcats with 29 points and nine rebounds, and Brandon Moore had 17 to go with 13 rebounds. Depsite both players dealing with foul trouble, both were productive in their final high school games before fouling out.

Casebolt was emotional after committing his fifth foul as the Wildcats tried to extend the game.

“Chase never quits,” Osborne said. “He’s going to make a hell of a college basketball player. He put a lot into this season, and so did the other seniors.”

Luke VanBoxel had 16 points and five assists for the Wildcats.

In addition to Jason Beckman’s 26 points, Andrew Beckman had 21 points and 11 rebounds, and Spencer Peters added nine points.

SHELBY (83) J. Beckman 9 3-4 26, Peters 2 4-6 9, Mussell 1 1-2 4, Kajtazi 4 0-0 10, James 4 0-0 8, Lee 2 1-2 5, A. Beckman 6 9-10 21. Totals 28 18-24 83.

MONTAGUE (71) C. Lohman 0 1-3 1, Bentz 3 0-0 6, Moore 5 7-9 17, VanBoxel 5 3-4 16, Casebolt 9 6-8 29, Boerema 1 0-0 2. Totals 23 17-24 71.

Shelby......19 15 22 27 — 83

Montague....10 12 17 32 — 71

Three-point goals — J. Beckman 5, Peters 1, Mussell 1, Kajtazi 2, VanBoxel 3, Casebolt 5. Total fouls — Shelby 21, Montague 20. Fouled out — A. Beckman, Moore, Casebolt. Technical fouls — none.

R-P drops district

opener at Shores

MUSKEGON — Reeths-Puffer struggled through the second and third quarters of Monday night’s pre-district showdown at Mona Shores, and the swoon cost the Rockets a win as the Sailors advanced with a 66-54 win.

R-P led 17-14 after one, but the Sailors outscored the Rockets 37-19 in the pivotal middle frames, creating a hole too big to surmount.

The Rockets had three players reach double figures, led by Quinzell Pannell, who had 14 points. Andrew Reinecke had 12 and Marquese Livers added 11. However, R-P’s struggles from the free-throw line (8 of 23) were costly.

Mona Shores powered the ball inside with abandon and got to the line 33 times, making 21. Cameron Matthews had 15 points to pace the Sailors, and Marcus Tumblin added 13.

R-P concluded the season wih an 8-13 record.

REETHS-PUFFER (54) Blake 1 0-0 3, Livers 5 1-2 11, Benton 0 1-2 1, Polk 0 2-5 2, Q. Pannell 7 0-0 14, Reinecke 3 3-4 12, Oaks-Owen 2 1-2 6, J. Pannell 2 0-0 5. Totals 20 8-23 54.

MONA SHORES (66) Tumblin 4 5-7 13, Demetriou 2 2-2 7, Sargeant 3 3-6 9, Billips 1 0-0 3, Smith 4 2-2 10, Matthews 5 4-6 15, Burse 0 1-2 1, Haugh 2 3-6 7, Rayner 0 1-2 1. Totals 21 21-33 66.

Reeths-Puffer......17 9 10 18 — 54

Mona Shores........14 17 20 15 — 66