Sarah Gould drives baseline for this field goal. She scored 25 to lead the Vikings in a 50-48 win Friday.

Friday night the home team held off North Muskegon 50-48 to win its second straight game and even its West Michigan Conference record at 4-4.

And, they are looking for payback against Hart this coming Friday night, according to Coach Rachel Kent. “We have all week to practice for that game. Two games we shouldn’t have lost this year were to Hart and Montague.”

Friday night the Vikings did enough to get the win. That included playing a 2-3 zone which kept the Norse out of the inside on offense, and dominated the boards. The offense also hit the boards hard for some key baskets.

Leading the way offensively for Whitehall was senior Sarah Gould who was aggressive in driving to the basket for 25 points, including 7-11 at the free throw line.

Whitehall’s youngest player, freshman post Emily MacArthur also had a big role in the game, hauling down an amazing 19 rebounds and cleaning up the offensive boards to score 12.

Kent said the Vikings have been playing a 2-3 zone defense to protect her big girls from getting tired and from fouling. “That’s been working for us.”

With the shortage of players, the coach said the rotation inside is shy. However, MacArthur, Brandi Balzer, who had 7 rebounds, and Bailey Seeger played tough defense.

Kent said her team is learning to slow the game down at the end to protect a lead.

They nearly let it slip away Friday, leading 48-40 with two minutes to go. North Muskegon closed the gap to the final two points, and with 7.8 seconds to go, Whitehall turned the ball over. The Norse had a three-point shot with three seconds to go, but it fell short of the mark.

Morgan Seaberg led North Muskegon in scoring with 26.

N. Muskegon 48: Wierda 4 0-0 8, Meier 2 1-2 3, Hardy 4 1-1 9, Preston 1 0-00 2, Seaberg 10 6-7 26, Fris 0 0-2 0. Totals 20 8-12 48.

Whitehall 50: Sarah Gould 9 7-11 25, Alena Follett 0 2-4 2, Leah Young 1 1-2 3, Bailey Seeger 1 2-3 4, Emily MacArthur 6 0-0 12, Brandi Balzer 1 2-2 3. Totals 18 14-22 50.

Three-point field goals: none. Total Fouls: N. Muskegon 18, Whitehall 13. Fouled out: none. Technical fouls: none.

N. Muskegon 6 10 16 16-48