Whitehall guard Janelle Uganski (left) looks for an open teammate while Kaylee Kessler defends for Montague during Friday night’s WMC girls basketball game. The Vikings’ backcourt led the way in a 65-46 Whitehall victory.
WHITEHALL — All season, the key to a successful Whitehall Vikings’ girls basketball game has been the post play of Brandi Balzer and Emily MacArthur. Friday night, the Viking backcourt took the reins to deliver a regular season-ending win.
Jenna Pesch scored a game-high 22 points and Leah Deuling sparked a lengthy Vikings’ run with a pair of threes, leading Whitehall to a 65-46 victory.
The Vikings (5-15, 4-10 West Michigan Conference) closed the regular season by winning three of their last four.
“Every time we play knows we’re feeding our posts, so I told my guards to step up and make some offensive selections,” Whitehall coach Rachel Kent said. “I think we finally took our time and made our offensive opportunities work for us tonight.”
Whitehall trailed 12-5 early on before Deuling hit three-pointers on consecutive Vikings’ possessions. That ignited a 24-2 scoring run for the Vikes that stretched into the second quarter before the Wildcats (3-15, 3-11 WMC) could quell it.
Montague chipped away at the Vikings’ lead and pulled within 49-40 early in the fourth quarter, but Whitehall put things away with a 16-6 run to end the game.
“We tend to get going 100 miles an hour, and our bodies can’t keep up with what our minds are thinking,” Kent said of Montague’s battling back. “We started making stupid fouls. It’s just calming ourselves down and playing smart, sensible defense.”
MacArthur scored 16 points in addition to Pesch’s 22, doing her usual yeoman’s work inside.
Morgan Shugars played stiff defense for Montague and had 13 points, while Nicole Rumsey scored 10 before fouling out. Elyse Taylor and Hailey Cockerill scored eight points each.
The Vikings battle Spring Lake, which also won five games this regular season, in Wednesday’s district semifinal, while Montague drew Hart in Monday’s pre-district opener. Both teams will be hosting their respective districts.
“We match up really well against Spring Lake,” Kent said. “Our goal is to make it to district finals.”
MONTAGUE (46) Kessler 1 0-0 2, Cockerill 3 0-0 8, Shugars 4 5-9 13, Taylor 3 2-5 8, Harrie 1 0-2 2, Rumsey 3 4-9 10, Davis 1 1-1 3. Totals 16 12-26 46.
WHITEHALL (65) Chamberlain 1 0-0 2, Uganski 2 0-0 4, Pladies 1 0-0 2, Balzer 0 4-6 4, Deuling 3 0-0 8, Seeger 2 1-2 5, MacArthur 8 0-0 16, Pesch 9 0-0 22. Totals 26 5-8 65.
Montague.....14 12 9 11 — 46
Whitehall....19 16 14 16 — 65
Three-point goals — Cockerill 2, Deuling 2, Pesch 4. Fouled out — Rumsey, MacArthur. Technical fouls — none.
Rockets fall to Muskegon
MUSKEGON — The Reeths-Puffer Rockets dropped to 12-7 overall and 5-4 in O-K Black Conference action with a 51-34 home loss to Muskegon Friday night.
The Rockets sputtered offensively in the first half, scoring just four points in the first quarter, and were unable to recover as the Big Reds “used a fast-break offense and a quality inside-out game” to take control, R-P coach Brandon Barry said.
Kalisa Williams led the Rockets with 13 points, but only two other players had more than two.
Camaryia Williams pulled down a team-high 12 rebounds for the Rockets.
Jade Paige’s 18 points paced the Big Reds.
Vikes drop game at Shelby
SHELBY — The Whitehall Vikings were no match for the West Michigan Conference co-champion Shelby Tigers Thursday night, falling 68-29 on the road.
Whitehall fell to 4-15 and 3-10 in the WMC with the loss.
The Vikings shot just 21 percent from the field and were outrebounded 47-20 by the Tigers. Sydney Czurak led Shelby with 15 points and 16 rebounds.
Rockets rout Kenowa Hills
MUSKEGON — Reeths-Puffer was dominant throughout Wednesday night as the Rockets rang up a 50-16 O-K Black Conference win over Kenowa Hills.
R-P rolled to a 15-1 lead after a quarter and led 23-3 at the halftime break. It was the fourth quarter before the overmatched Knights hit the double-digit mark in points for the game.
“The Rockets took advantage of a quality press early creating points off of turnovers,” R-P coach Brandon Barry said.
Kalisa Williams led the Rockets (12-6, 5-3 O-K Black) with 17 points and added six assists. Kayla Melton scored seven points and Camaryia Williams added six. In all, 10 Lady Rockets reached the scorebook.
R-P’s offense was methodical and efficient, as the Rockets had 15 assists on their 22 baskets and only turned the ball over 10 times. The Rockets also outrebounded Kenowa Hills 35-25.
KENOWA HILLS (16) Berry 1 0-0 2, Jeannine Schipper 0 2-3 2, Wilson 1 0-1 2, Jeannette Schipper 1 3-6 5, VeltKamp 1 3-6 5. Totals 4 8-16 16.
REETHS-PUFFER (50) Melton 3 1-1 7, K. Williams 7 3-4 17, C. Williams 3 0-2 6, Seidell 1 1-2 3, Walker 2 0-0 4, Wilson 1 0-0 3, Swanson 1 0-2 2, Chrystler 1 0-0 2, Klemp 2 0-0 4, Lemieux 1 0-0 2. Totals 22 5-11 50.
Kenowa Hills..... 1 2 4 9 — 16
Reeths-Puffer....15 8 8 19 — 50
Three-point goals — Wilson 1. Total fouls — Kenowa Hills 9, Reeths-Puffer 11. Fouled out — none. Technical fouls — none.
Montague earns sweep of Ravenna
MONTAGUE — The Montague Wildcats earned a season sweep of Ravenna Wednesday night in a make-up game, defeating the Bulldogs 60-46.
The game had originally been scheduled for Feb. 7 before being moved due to weather.
Montague (3-14, 3-10 West Michigan Conference) controlled the game throughout, especially after extending a two-point lead after a quarter to 11 with a 16-7 scoring run in the second frame.
Three Wildcats hit double figures in scoring, with Nicole Rumsey’s 14 pacing Montague. Hailey Cockerill scored 13 points and Morgan Shugars added 10. Elyse Taylor had eight rebounds, while Rumsey had six to go with four steals and two blocked shots.
Melissa McWatters led the Bulldogs with 13 points.