Whitehall’s Brandi Balzer loses control of the ball as she goes up for a shot. Defending are Montague’s Emily Anderson (20) and Morgan Shugars.

Friday night Montague was just as scrappy, but they couldn’t overcome Whitehall’s strong inside game to fall 61-54.

“I’m happy with how the girls performed,” Montague Coach Bill O’Connell said, despite the loss. “They finally put a complete game together. We still make young mistakes.

Montague plays just one senior, and gives significant playing time to three sophomores.

It was one of those sophomores, Hailey Cockerill, along with junior Leanne Fessler who kept the Wildcats in the game with three triples each.

O’Connell said it was best game of the season for Cockerill and Fessler. Cockerill also had 6 rebounds.

The Montague coach said early fouls which put Whitehall in the bonus late in the first quarter, hurt his team.

Whitehall took advantage by hitting 20 of 38 free throw attempts which made the difference in the outcome. Montague was just 12-27 at the line.

Whitehall, which won its third game in a row and improved to 5-4 in the West Michigan Conference Friday, despite some sloppy play, according to Coach Rachel Kent. “We’ve got to play cleaner.”

Whitehall 61: Sarah Gould 8 4-8 21, Alena Follett 1 5-8 7, Bailey Seeger 4 1-2 9, Jenna Pesch 1 3-4 5, Emily MacArthur 5 3-8 13, Brandi Balzer 0 4-8 4. Totals: 20 20-38 61.

Montague 54: Kaylee Kessler 2 0-1 4, Hailey Cockerill 3 2-6 11, Emily Anderson 2 1-2 5, Morgan Shugars 3 3-7 9, Elyse Taylor 2 1-2 5, Katie Rice 1 0-0 2, Mariah Thies 0 1-2 1, Leanne Fessler 3 0-1 9, Nicole Rumsey 2 4-6 8. Totals: 18 12-27 54.

Three-point field goals: Gould, Shugars 3, Fessler 3. Total fouls: Whitehall 25, Montague 26. Fouled out: Anderson, Taylor, Rumsey, MacAr-thur.

Whitehall 21 17 9 15-61

Montague 20 6 14 14-54

Rocket girls can't finish

MUSKEGON – The Rockets trailed by just one point heading into the fourth quarter in its girls basketball game against O-K Black opponent, Kenowa Hills Friday night.

But, the final eight minutes weren’t friendly as the Knights scored 24 to Reeths-Puffer’s 6 to go home with a 55-36 win.

Kenowa Hills: Veltkamp 0 2-2 2, Wisneski 4 0-0 8, Schipper 1 3-3 5, Mercier 1 0-0 2, Garvin 5 0-2 11, Anderson 7 6-7 21, Boonstra 3 0-0 6. Totals: 21 11-14 55.

Reeths-Puffer 36: Kayla Melton 4 3-6 11, Britnee Dye 7 0-0 15, Taylor Seidell 1 0-0 2, Taylor Walker 1 0-0 2, Grace Swanson 3 0-0 6. Totals: 16 3-6 36.

Three-point field goals: Dye, Garvin, Anderson.

Kenowa 12 10 9 24-55

R-Puffer 9 10 11 6-36