MONTAGUE — At the end of Whitehall's 64-38 win over Montague Friday night, the teams shook hands at midcourt. That was normal. What happened next was not.
Suddenly, without much preamble, Whitehall's Corde Anderson and Montague's Cole Herremans were herding teammates and opponents alike to the middle of the court. Within moments, both teams and coaches were in a circle saying a prayer.
It was not something often seen after any game, least of all a noted rivalry like Whitehall/Montague. But for Anderson and Herremans, it sent an important message.
"Showing God's glory in a basketball game when everybody's here, so they know that's what we're trying to support and that's what we're about," Anderson said. "I just told them while we were shaking hands, 'Let's pray afterwards,' and they were all with it. I just think that's awesome that we're showing our love for Him."
The idea was born of a group both players are part of called First Priority, a gospel group with over 1,000 chapters nationwide. Members of the White Lake area chapter of the group floated the idea of a postgame prayer in their text chain leading up to the game, and Anderson, who loved the concept, pitched it to his coach, Christian Subdon.
"He asked me if he could do it, and I want to support my players in all the things that they do," Subdon said. "I do want them to become better men, better fathers, better sons, better everything. He brought it to me, and it was really a no-brainer at that point.
"It's definitely impressive. I know that myself, I was only thinking about a game when I was in high school, and these guys are out here thinking about other things, other people, and that's pretty impressive."
Anderson, a recent Ferris State football commit, said he wanted to spread the message that in the grand scheme of things, a game of basketball is nothing compared to expressing his faith.
"I just think that regardless of rivalry, regardless of any type of basketball games or football games, whatever it is, the fact that we can share a love for something so great and so powerful, it just amazes me," Anderson said while holding the Bridge trophy that goes to the winner of the Whitehall/Montague boys basketball game. "This is nothing. I could care less about this. We're all playing for Him. That's greater than any trophy."
In addition to the profession of faith, Montague coach Nick Thaler noted the positive message of unifying the White Lake area under one cause.
"We can be rivals on the court and have that competitive fire, but then still show respect at the end, and that obviously means a great deal for the White Lake community and our two schools to be able to do that," Thaler said. "That was awesome to see for all the kids."
