By Greg Gielczyk
LocalSportsJournal.com

WHITEHALL — It was just a two-possession game late in the fourth quarter when Ludington hit from long range to spread the margin out and successfully held off a pesky Whitehall.

The Orioles defeated the Vikings 44-37 Tuesday night in the West Michigan Conference Lakes Division.

As the season winds down before the tournament, the division race is also coming down to the wire with the Orioles moving to 7-1 with their fourth straight win to keep right on the heels of Fremont (8-0 WMC, 12-3 overall).

Whitehall knocked down some big shots early. Lexi Daggett buried two 3-pointers and Kendall Osborne one as the Vikings slipped in front, 13-12, after one.

The score remained close throughout the second quarter as well, before the Orioles caught fire and scored the last five points, highlighted by Emma McKinley’s triple to go up by four, 20-16, at halftime.

Foul trouble hurt the Orioles in the first half, but with Peyton Welch and Jennah Skiba both spending extended time on the bench, others stepped up.

“I thought Karlie Mesyar gave us a spark there, both offensively and defensively,” said Ludington coach Warren Stowe. “On the defensive end, she was probably the most aggressive at a time when we needed it. When you see a (man-to-man defense), and an aggressive man, it’s hard. It’s something we see all the time because that’s what we do in practice.

“But, to go against different girls, and they’ve got a lot of girls … credit to them.”

The Vikings refused to go away, however, eventually taking a 25-24 lead with 1:35 left in the third quarter. Ludington responded. Mesyar hit a triple to lead a 5-0 run that put the Orioles ahead again, 29-25.

Ludington mounted its first five-point lead of the game when Kenyon drained a 3-pointer, 32-27 to start the fourth quarter. Another spurt of five straight points for the Orioles, including a triple by Elianna Jeruzal, made it 37-29 with 3:33 remaining.

Whitehall was put in the position of needing to foul and the Orioles made them pay with a solid performance at the free-throw line down the stretch.

Jordyn Anderson and Kenyon each scored eight points to lead the Orioles. Jeruzal added seven. Ludington shot 14-of-30 from the line and sank four 3-point shots.

Daggett led all scorers with 19 for the Vikings, while Osborne tossed in 11.

Whitehall dropped to 6-10 overall and 4-5 in the league. The Vikings host Oakridge in another division contest on Friday night.