High expectations can sometimes be hazardous in sports, particularly for teams like the Reeths-Puffer boys basketball squad, which has a very talented and experienced roster headed into the 2023-24 season.
The Rockets return four starters from last year’s 15-10 team, including super seniors Jaxson Whitaker and Travis Ambrose, who could both shatter the school’s career scoring record this season.
But R-P head coach Nate Aardema has been reminding his players that their focus should be on constant improvement, attention to detail, and doing all the little things that separate the good teams from the great ones.
If the players respond to that challenge, they can look forward to an exciting season while contending for conference and district titles and perhaps even more.
Jaxson Whitaker
“I know this is coach-speak, but we need to focus on winning single possessions and being our best every day,” said Aardema, whose team will open the season with road games next Tuesday at Forest Hills Central and next Friday at Grand Haven.
“It sounds cliché’, but it’s true. Each guy has to decide that they are going to be the best they can be as players and teammates. Those are the teams that have the best success.
“No doubt, we have a talented and experienced group. But it will come down to what we do, day-to-day, to make ourselves as good as we can be.”
All Reeths-Puffer fans are excited to see how good Whitaker and Ambrose can be in their fourth and final year as varsity starters. Both are coming off great seasons in 2022-23.
Whitaker, a guard with amazing outside shooting ability, averaged 18.6 points per game last season. He also got into the R-P record book by setting new records for three-pointers in a game (9), three-pointers in a season (80) and three-pointers in a career (168).
Travis Ambrose
This year he is almost certain to break the school’s career scoring record, which is 1,353 points, held by R-P great J. R. Wallace. Whitaker is fewer than 400 points away from that mark.
It’s hard to imagine, but Aardema said he expects Whitaker to be improved from last season.
“He’s gained a little more muscle, he’s jumping a little better, finishing better, and honestly shooting even better” the coach said about Whitaker, who has committed to play basketball at Ferris State University. “He’s going to be better than he was last year. He’s always had a commitment to being great, so it’s not surprising.
“To me he’s one of the best players in the state of Michigan. If he has a season even close to what he had last year, he should break the career scoring record by quite a bit.”
Complimenting Whitaker’s outside shooting will be Ambrose, a 6-foot-8 beast of an athlete who dominates inside and can also shoot from the perimeter.
Brayden Mitchelson
Ambrose was injured at the beginning of last season and got off to a so-so-start, but still ended up averaging 16.8 points, 9 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game. He is also closing in on the school career scoring record and is expected to finish as R-P’s all-time leading rebounder and shot blocker.
Both Ambrose and Whitaker surprised everyone when they decided to play varsity football in the fall, and both were outstanding receivers for the Rockets. Everyone was expecting both of them to play college basketball, but Ambrose has decided to play Division 1 football at Central Michigan University instead.
But his mind is completely focused on basketball right now, according to Aardema, who found Ambrose in the gym shooting baskets on the same day he committed to play college football.
“He said he didn’t want to let his teammates down, and he wanted to be the best he can be, and I think he’s going to be fantastic,” Aardema said. “I think football helped him in terms of physicality, and he’s just been through it all for three seasons now.”
The Rockets also return two other starters who will bring a ton of skill and experience to the team.
Antrel Jones
Junior guard/forward Bayden Mitchelson and senior forward Antrel Jones have been through the wars and do a lot of different things to benefit the team.
“They are both counted on to do a lot of the stuff that doesn’t get mentioned in the stat sheets,” Aardema said. “They will both be incredibly important to the team’s success. I think Brayden will see a big uptick in scoring. He’s a junior now and more confident and comfortable.”
The fifth starter will be talented sophomore Marvin Moore, who was called up to varsity midway through his freshman year and quickly showed a great deal of potential as a point guard.
“He’s a really talented young man and athlete,” Aardema said about Moore. "I think we will see him really blossom this year, after playing some really big minutes toward the end of the year as a freshman.”
Three guys who will see significant playing time off the bench will be junior 6-3 forward Elliot Schneider, junior guard Trayvon Totten and newcomer JT Fansler, a senior soccer standout who decided to come out for basketball this season.
Coach Aardema is hoping the team can pick up where it left off last season and build on the momentum.
Marvin Moore
Last year the Rockets stumbled out of the gate with a 3-4 record but improved dramatically as the season progressed. They won eight of their last 10 games and gave eventual state finalist Muskegon all it could handle in a Division 1 district championship game before falling 51-47.
Reeths-Puffer finished 15-10 overall and 9-5 in O-K Green conference play.
“We started to play some really good basketball at the end of the year,” Aardema said. “We beat some really good teams and took Muskegon right down to the wire. I think that was the closest game they had until the state finals.
“It’s both a blessing and a curse. Last year was a good launching pad, but we have to realize that we are not where we need to be yet. We have to keep working to get better.”
The good news is that the players seem to understand the big challenge ahead and are very united in their goal of maximizing their potential.
“This group has been really great so far,” Aardema said. “They are really a joy to be around. They seem to really care about each other’s success as much as their own. When you get that kind of buy-in, it usually leads to good things.”
