WHITEHALL — Hot Whitehall shooting and great rebounding by Corde Anderson was enough to help the Vikings retain the Bridge trophy for another year Friday night against rival Montague in a 72-56 victory.
In a fast-paced game marked by the Wildcats' efforts to press Whitehall throughout, Viking shooters knocked down 9-of-21 three-point attempts, and Anderson had an impressive double-double, with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
"If you take your eyes off him for a second, or look up for the shot, he's already making his way to get a rebound, and you might lose (him)," Whitehall assistant coach Marcelo Conklin said. "He just works hard, and he creates a lot of extra opportunities for us. He's a beast on the boards, and it definitely helps us a ton."
Montague entered the game with a plan to make the game fast, believing it would be able to score points. However, the Vikings proved difficult to slow down on the other end.
"I thought that scoring on these guys wouldn't be the problem. Stopping them is the issue," Thaler said. "Corde is a load inside. You know what he's going to do, but It's hard to stop him. Then we tried to pick up the pace a little bit, and you can see that with them scoring 72 (points)."
Whitehall (6-9, 4-3 West Michigan Conference Lakes) came out of the gates knocking down shots, drilling four treys in the first quarter. The Vikes took a 10-3 lead early on before Montague quickly rallied behind seven consecutive points from Cole Herremans to get within two points, 16-14.
Whitehall's hot shooting continued, though, and Pierce Westerlund's long-range shot, his second of the first quarter, put Whitehall back ahead comfortably at 24-16 after one.
Offensive rebounding was a factor in the Vikings' three-point success, as the home team snagged 12 boards on that end to create second chances. Anderson had five of those.
"When they get offensive rebounds and then get those threes on those offensive rebounds, it's a backbreaker," Montague coach Nick Thaler said. "It's hard to come back from those."
The Wildcats (0-14, 0-7 WMC Lakes) played with a solid effort that belied their winless season record, and it was that effort that Thaler took heart in even though the Vikings pulled away in the second half, ballooning their lead over 20 at one point. Herremans led all scorers for Montague, pouring in 19 points.
"You're going to have years where it's just not going your way," Thaler said. "We've been in a lot of contests where the games have been close, and we're just not able to finish right. We're not able to get that loose ball. We're not able to get that rebound that we do need and then get an extra possession. Sometimes that's just basketball.
"You've seen that from the beginning of the year to now, we've gotten a lot better. Getting into tournament time, we're going to be ready for it because we've put these guys in situations where they're going to struggle and battle that adversity."
Alex Winczewski was a big reason Whitehall's lead grew as it did in the second half, going for a team-high 18 points. He also passed out four assists, which fit the offensive theme of the game for the Vikes; 16 of 28 field goals were assisted.
"When they're confident, and they're shooting it well, it's definitely nice," Conklin said. "They move it around. They share it. When guys are hitting shots, they look for each other. It's definitely nice when we can get in a groove and get all our guys knocking shots down."
While his statistical contributions were not huge - he had seven points - the return of Hunter Osborne to the lineup no doubt helped the Vikings as well. Osborne, playing his first game since December, helped keep things running smoothly on offense and brings a different level of "defensive intensity," Conklin said.
Westerlund scored 13 points for Whitehall and Evan Thomas added 11. Rex Pumford passed out five assists.
