Montague guard Kalup Bentz (right) battles through Joey Warren’s defensive pressure for Oakridge late in Friday’s WMC basketball game. The ‘Cats won 70-58 to move to 10-1 in the league.

They took a big step toward claiming one Friday night, grabbing early control of a key matchup with Oakridge and holding off the Eagles’ inevitable run for a 70-58 victory.

Montague (13-1, 10-1 WMC) is two games up in the loss column over everyone else in the league.

The Wildcats rolled off an 11-2 run after Oakridge had taken a 6-2 lead early, and they never trailed again. Montague held a comfortable lead most of the second half until Oakridge made its charge.

The Eagles began hitting from the outside, which combined with some missed free throws by Montague to help shrink the lead. Oakridge came as close as six after one of its several treys, but the Wildcats know what to do in tough spots.

James Boerema quickly was fed the ball in the post and hit a turnaround jump shot to put the Cats back up by eight.

“We trust everyone with the basketball,” Montague coach David Osborne said. “We don’t panic. We knew they’d make a run. That one went in, and the next possession we hit a three.”

Montague had its usual balanced offensive attack, with Chase Casebolt’s 19 points and Luke VanBoxel’s 18 setting the pace. Brandon Moore added 12.

However, it was the Wildcats’ backcourt that stood out. 22 of Montague’s 29 made shots were assisted, and VanBoxel and Kalup Bentz each had seven of those dimes.

Osborne was impressed with Bentz’s play, as he was pressed into duty due to Moore’s and Casebolt’s foul trouble early on.

“I thought Kalup Bentz played a heck of a game tonight,” Osborne said. “He gave us great minutes off the bench. We’ve been waiting for this game. We knew it was in him.”

MONTAGUE (70) C. Lohman 1 0-0 2, Bentz 2 0-0 5, Moore 5 2-4 12, Stine 1 0-1 2, VanBoxel 8 0-2 18, Marsh 2 0-0 4, Casebolt 6 4-6 19, Boerema 4 0-2 8. Totals 29 6-15 70.

OAKRIDGE (58) Greenawalt 1 1-2 4, Decker 4 0-0 12, Wright 2 2-2 7, Gonyon 1 0-0 2, Lazarock 2 0-0 4, Eacker 10 8-9 29. Totals 20 11-13 58.

Montague.....19 13 18 20 — 70

Oakridge.....13 7 20 18 — 58

Three-point goals — Bentz 1, VanBoxel 2, Casebolt 3, Greenawalt 1, Decker 4, Wright 1, Eacker 1.

Vikes beat WMC

foe Ravenna

WHITEHALL — Whitehall didn’t let a second-quarter offensive lapse keep it away from victory Friday night.

The Vikings bounced back from a four-point second quarter and took control of the game in the second half to record a 61-48 West Michigan Conference win over Ravenna.

Whitehall (6-9, 6-5 WMC) put four players into double figures in scoring, led by 15 points from Isaac Love, 12 each from Devontae Vance and Matt Russell, and 10 from Frank Owens.

Russell and Love each had nine rebounds as well.

Ravenna had its best offense from the three-point line, as the Bulldogs canned six threes, half of them by Tim Patterson.

The Vikings outscored Ravenna 13-4 in the third quarter to help provide the decisive margin after the game went into halftime tied at 27.

Vance posted six steals to fuel the Vikings’ defense.

Kyle Vanderwoude had 18 points to lead Ravenna.

RAVENNA (48) Kantola 3 3-4 10, Patterson 4 0-0 11, Sied 1 0-0 3, Sanford 1 0-2 2, Vanderwoude 7 3-4 18, White 2 0-0 4. Totals 18 6-10 48.

WHITEHALL (61) Vance 4 4-6 12, Johnson 1 0-0 2, Medendorp 0 1-2 1, Owens 4 2-2 10, Rohen 2 0-0 5, Russell 5 2-4 12, Love 7 0-1 15, Sims 2 0-3 4. Totals 25 9-18 61.

Ravenna.....13 14 4 17 — 48

Whitehall...23 4 13 21 — 61

Three-point goals — Kantola 1, Patterson 3, Sied 1, Vanderwoude 1, Rohen 1, Love 1. Total fouls — Ravenna 15, Whitehall 12. Fouled out — none. Technical fouls — none.

Montague wins big

against Ravenna

MONTAGUE — Montague grabbed control of Tuesday night’s West Michigan Conference game with Ravenna in the second and third quarters, expanding an early six-point lead to 34 to put away an 89-45 victory.

The Wildcats led just 21-15 after a quarter, but outscored the Bulldogs 50-22 in the second and third frames, using their always-potent offense.

Montague shot 64 percent from the field for the contest and put four players into double figures in scoring, led by Brandon Moore, who had 18 points. In addition, Chase Casebolt scored 14 points, Luke VanBoxel added 12 and Jacob Marsh contributed 10.

“Brandon had a nice game scoring tonight and was aggressive offensively most of the night,” Montague coach David Osborne said.

The Wildcats were also unselfish, recording 23 team assists, with nine players having at least one. VanBoxel was the top assist man, with eight. Montague also rang up nine steals.

Montague has seized control of the WMC race, with just one conference loss. Second-place Shelby has three defeats in WMC play.

Vikes’ rally falls

short at Shelby

SHELBY — The Shelby Tigers looked like they were headed for an easy win over Whitehall after the first quarter, but the Vikings made Shelby sweat to earn a 73-64 West Michigan Conference victory Tuesday night.

Shelby led 22-9 after a quarter, but Whitehall chipped away at the lead the remainder of the game, culminating in a high-scoring final frame in which the Vikes outscored Shelby 27-21.

Frank Owens paced Whitehall (5-9, 5-5 WMC) with 17 points, and Devontae Vance scored 15 points. Isaac Love had 13 and Matt Russell added eight.

Jason Beckman led the Tigers with 23 points, while Andrew Beckman added 14 despite battling foul trouble throughout the game. Spencer Peters scored 13 points.

WHITEHALL (64) Vance 4 6-9 15, Medendorp 1 1-2 4, Owens 4 9-14 17, Rohen 0 2-2 2, Russell 3 2-5 8, Love 5 2-2 13, Sims 2 0-0 5. Totals 19 22-34 64.

SHELBY (73) J. Beckman 9 2-2 23, Porter 1 0-0 2, Peters 3 6-6 13, Mussell 2 0-0 5, Kajtazi 3 1-2 7, James 0 1-2 1, Lee 2 0-0 4, A. Becman 5 4-6 14, Herin 1 2-2 4. Totals 26 16-20 73.

Whitehall..... 9 17 11 27 — 64

Shelby........22 16 14 21 — 73

Three-point goals — Vance 1, Medendorp 1, Love 1, Sims 1, J. Beckman 3, Peters 1, Mussell 1. Total fouls — Whitehall 16, Shelby 25. Fouled out — A. Beckman. Technical fouls — none.

Rockets drop game

to Zeeland East

MUSKEGON — Zeeland East fought off a game effort from Reeths-Puffer Tuesday night, putting things away in the third quarter of a 78-62 O-K Black Conference win.

The Rockets hung tough early with the top team in the league, trailing just 40-31 at the halftime break. However, the Chix ran off a 22-7 third quarter that created a hole much too big for the Rockets.

R-P did outscore the Chix 24-16 in the final quarter to keep the margin reasonably close.

The Rockets had three players reach double figures in scoring, led by Quinzell Pannell, who had 16 points. Pannell also posted five rebounds. Kevin Polk scored 14 points, and Jalen Benton had 10 points and five boards.

Michael Custer paced the Chix with 23 points while Tyler Smith had 17.