WHITEHALL — Whitehall played what coach Brian Milliron called his team's most complete game of the season Tuesday night to earn a West Michigan Conference cross-division win over Mason County Central, 52-46.
"We haven't played a 32-minute game yet, but I thought we were close tonight," Milliron said.
The Vikings (4-8) grabbed the lead early in the second quarter with a 9-0 scoring run and held it almost the whole way after that. MCC briefly retook the lead late in the fourth quarter, but two free throws by Emma Decker put the Vikes back on top for good.
Decker's putting Whitehall on top was fitting, as the senior forward played "the best game of her high school career," Milliron said. She totaled 16 points, tied for the team lead with Peyton Schultz and tied for her career high, as well as grabbing five rebounds.
Usually an ace rebounder more so than a fast-break factor, Decker showed her offensive skill in the third quarter, scoring 10 points in that frame alone, many of them on the run. The Vikings, who have had struggles scoring in the half-court offense this year, have worked on getting on the break of late to get some easy points. Tuesday's effort produced the biggest results yet in that department, as the 52 points marked the Vikings' season high.
"We've definitely been working (to) get the ball down the court as fast as possible and getting those free layups," Decker said. "We've been working really hard to get more transition buckets, because that definitely can help improve our scoring."
Whitehall's Peyton Schultz evades Mason County Central's Jordyn Aultman during Tuesday's game at Whitehall. Schultz had 16 points in the Vikings' 52-46 win.
It was Schultz who provided the early boost for Whitehall, drilling three three-pointers in the first half, scoring six of the team's first 10 points. The Vikings haven't benefited from many fast starts, and getting Schultz, the team's best shooter, going quickly was a great way to reverse that trend.
MCC answered Schultz's early surge to take a 16-12 lead to end the first quarter - Jessica Petersen hit a trey, then hit two free throws after being fouled with 6.1 seconds to go - but Whitehall locked down on defense in the second quarter, holding MCC scoreless the first five minutes.
The Viking defense was strong for almost the entire three quarters, but for a brief lapse, Milliron said, in the fourth during which MCC turned a 43-33 Whitehall lead into a 46-45 Spartan advantage. Fortunately, after Decker's free throws put the Vikes back on top, MCC missed a pair of free throws and Schultz hit her final three-pointer of the night to make it 50-46.
Whitehall did solidly against the MCC press, apart from that early fourth-quarter stretch in which MCC briefly got the lead. Opponents have been running a lot of press defense against the Vikings to challenge their ballhandlers, and Tuesday was one of the team's best performances yet against it.
"They played a press, which we were expecting, but I think we handled the pressure well and did a good job of beating them back a few times to get some open layups," Decker said.
It wasn't just the Decker and Schultz show, either. Clare Westerlund, the team's leading scorer, passed out most of her seven assists to them during the game, as well as scoring seven points and grabbing eight rebounds. Janie Fagan had six points and Ellie Conklin had five.
"We don't have any D-I girls on this team, and so a slugfest is how we have to win games," Milliron said. "I can't make them taller because we don't have a lot of tall girls here, but we can make them a little bit tougher. Thankfully we have some great seniors, along with Clare and Peyton and Reese Hesse, who played a good game tonight. They're a really good group, too. I don't have issues. They're just a fun group to coach."
