MUSKEGON TOWNSHIP - The Reeths-Puffer boys basketball team skillfully found different ways to piece together a nice victory on Tuesday.
In the first half the Rockets used a big offense that put up 33 points, including 20 in a very productive second quarter.
In the second half the shots stopped falling, so the Rockets employed a lockdown defense to keep Zeeland East from scoring much, either.
R-P also had the hot hand of junior guard Jaxson Whitaker, who can be a real difference-maker when pretty much everything else is equal.
Whitaker opened the game with three triples in the first quarter, then knocked down three more in the final 5:04 of the contest to propel the Rockets to a 54-44 home victory over Zeeland East in an O-K Green conference matchup.
R-P's Travis Ambrose stuffs home a shot. Photo/Joe Lane
The Rockets improved to 9-8 overall on the season and 6-5 in conference play. Zeeland East dropped to 8-10 and 3-8. R-P has now won two games in a row following a tough three-game losing streak.
The Rockets will visit Zeeland West, a team they lost to in overtime earlier this season, on Friday.
Whitaker finished with 22 points, including six three-pointers. He said he usually knows if his follow-through is working on his first three-point attempt every game, and it was definitely working on Tuesday.
“Sometimes when I rush the shots I fall off,” said Whitaker, who had his biggest three-point game of the season. “When one goes in, it kind of brings energy to the whole team.”
R-P Coach Nate Aardema was not at all surprised to see Whitaker pour in all those threes.
“We had a shooting game the other night at practice, five (three-point) shots from 10 different spots, and he made 47 out of 50,” the coach said. “The time before that he made 44. He’s just an incredible shooter, and it’s not by accident. It’s the result of a lot of hard work.
“He’s just a great player. It’s good to have him on our side.”
R-P's Jaxson Whitaker (5) gets ready to battle for a rebound. Photo/Joe Lane
Whitaker went right to work in the first quarter on Tuesday, scoring 11 of R-P’s 13 points with three triples and a layup, and the score was tied 13-13 at the first buzzer.
Six different Rockets found the net in the second quarter, when R-P outscored the Chix 20-11 and took a 33-24 lead into halftime. Travis Ambrose had the hot hand for R-P, scoring eight points on three buckets and two free throws in the second.
Reeths-Puffer somehow managed to leave its hot offense in the locker room at halftime, but made do by clamping down defensively in the second half.
The Rockets only scored six points in the third quarter but held Zeeland East to nine and still led 39-33 headed into the fourth. Tayte Vanderleest scored four big points off the bench for the Rockets in the third.
Zeeland East’s Layne Risdon hit a layup less than a minute into the final quarter, making the score 39-35, then the Rockets went into a long stall designed to take Zeeland West out of its zone defense.
Whitaker simply possessed and dribbled the ball for more than a minute, then the Rockets played catch for another minute or so, before taking a time out with 5:10 remaining.
Whitaker nailed a three-pointer six seconds after the time-out, sparking a 15-8 run down the stretch to nail down the victory.
R-P's Tyviea Williams (30) dribbles past a defender. Photo/Joe Lane
Whitaker had three triples in the final 5:04 while Brayden Mitchelson added a three-pointer and a pair of free throws.
“We figured if they were going to run a zone, we might as well sit there at the top until we forced them to run a man-to-man defense on us,” Whitaker said about the stall strategy. “Once they did that we figured we would start scoring again.”
Ambrose finished with 10 points for the Rockets while Mitchelson added eight, including two three-pointers.
Antrel Jones had a big night with 11 rebounds and five assists, Ambrose snagged eight rebounds and Tyviea Williams registered four assists.
