GRAND HAVEN — On a night where points were hard to come by, an unexpected source stepped up and delivered clutch baskets for the Reeths-Puffer boys basketball team.
Sophomore Marvin Moore scored a game-high 15 points, including a go-ahead three-pointer with two minutes remaining, to propel the Rockets to a 38-34 win at Grand Haven.
The Grand Haven defense swarmed R-P stars Travis Ambrose and Jaxson Whitaker all night, holding both under 10 points. With the extra attention on them, Moore stepped up to provide a spark.
“Knowing teams are going to focus on our main two players, knowing I can step up like that and help them out, help us win a game, it feels amazing,” Moore said after the game.
R-P's Brayden Mitchelson (24) tries to dribble around a defender. Photo/Joe Lane
“Anytime Jaxson touched it, there was a guy in his jersey and a second defender like four or five feet off,” R-P Coach Nate Aardema said. “Any time Travis touched it, there were three dudes there. So having Marvin step up and have the confidence to take and make those shots was tremendous for us.”
Aardema said players like Moore and Brayden Mitchelson will be key scoring sources for the Rockets this year.
“Marvin and Brayden are both very capable scorers,” he said. “They’re both good basketball players.
“Teams are going to focus in on Jax and Trav, deservedly so, they’re fantastic, but Marvin is going to have some big games throughout the course of this year.”
The game was a grind at points, with Grand Haven slowing the game down and limiting possessions. At one point in the second quarter, the Buccaneers possessed the ball for nearly four minutes.
R-P's Jaxson Whitaker (4) lets a long shot fly. Photo/Joe Lane
“I didn’t think we were going to score 70 again,” Aardema said, referring to R-P’s season-opening win on Tuesday. “I expected some good defense. I thought we’d get into the 40s, probably the 50s, but that’s just the type of game it was tonight.
“I hope we don’t have too many more ugly games, so to speak, but we can learn from it. We’ll get better from playing in games like this, more than we would if we were just racing up and down and getting the looks we want.”
Reeths-Puffer’s defense, aided by the slow pace, shut the Bucs down in the final minutes. After a Grand Haven basket tied the score 32-32 with five minutes left, the Bucs didn’t score again until a layup at the final buzzer.
“Kudos to our guys for being able to focus in and being able to compete on each possession, and then finish possessions,” Aardema said. “It was getting back to our principles. Kids did a good job of that and identifying shooters and finishing possessions.”
Jaxson Whitaker tries to get a pass off with two Buccaneers defending him. Photo/Joe Lane
Moore’s go-ahead basket came with 2:04 to play and put R-P up 35-32. Two foul shots from Whitaker and one from JT Fansler stretched the lead to 38-32 in the final minute.
Grand Haven led 8-7 at the end of the first quarter, ending the frame on a 6-2 run. Moore scored four for the Rockets in the first and Mitchelson had a three-pointer.
Points were hard to come by in the second, with R-P grinding out a 5-3 edge to lead 12-11 at halftime.
Both offenses found the net in the third, with R-P winning the quarter 16-15. Moore led the way with six points — including a four-point-play — followed by Ambrose with five, including his first and only field goal of the game, a two-handed fast break dunk.
Photo/Joe Lane
R-P outscored Grand Haven 10-8 in the fourth, led by Whitaker with six points.
Whitaker finished the game with eight points, followed by Ambrose and Mitchelson with six each. Ambrose added nine rebounds and four blocks, while Mitchelson grabbed nine boards as well.
