MUSKEGON TWP. - Regardless of how good or bad the Reeths-Puffer girls basketball team turned out to be this season, one thing was obvious – senior Brooklynn Tornes was going to have to carry the offensive load for the Rockets.
As the only returning starter from last year’s conference championship team – and the only obvious scoring threat in this year’s lineup – the pressure has been squarely on Tornes.
She has more than responded to the challenge, during the bad times and the good.
The bad times came in the first five games, when the Rockets went 0-5. Tornes still played her part by scoring at an impressive rate and embracing the role of team leader. She had several very productive games during the losing stretch, scoring 22 points against Spring Lake, 21 against East Kentwood and 16 against Grand Haven.
While she did fine individually in those games, Tornes has been having a lot more fun in the last three. Since the calendar turned to 2024, the Rockets have been much improved, with a three-game winning streak going into Tuesday night’s conference matchup at Grand Rapids Union.
R-P's Brooklynn Tornes
“The first win was everything,” Tornes said about a 51-38 win over Jenison on Jan. 2 that started the win streak. “We love the feeling of winning. Every loss has a lesson and now every detail is getting corrected in games. We want to keep it up.”
Even with the team playing a lot better, particularly on the defensive end, Tornes remains the driving force in the attack. She is averaging 22.6 points, six rebounds, four steals and six assists per game during the winning streak. Her biggest eruption came last week against Holland, when she scored 28 points and had 11 steals in the victory.
“I feel like I’ve been doing really well,” Tornes said. “I’m showing everyone what I’ve been working hard for. With so many of our girls from last year gone, I knew I’d have to step up. I’ve accepted the challenge and taken it full force.”
R-P Coach Rodney Walker is thrilled with his team’s recent progress, but admits that Tornes needs to keep scoring a lot for the Rockets to be successful.
“She definitely needs to have at least double-digit scoring for us to win,” said Walker, who added that the Rockets have several other players who can shoot very well but have not emerged yet. “She is the oil to our engine.”
Learning to deal with the pressure of being the big scorer is new for Tornes.
She has played on the varsity team all four seasons of high school and has started the last three. But before this season she was able to settle in comfortably behind talented teammates Sophia Hekkema and Ariel Walker.
Tornes put up her share of points - she averaged 9.5 per game last season - but if she had a slow night it was not disastrous for the team.
The situation is far different this season, with Hekkema and Walker now graduated. Opposing defenses key on her, but still can’t stop her.
“It actually feels really good,” Tornes said. “I would say last year, teams didn’t pay as much attention to me being the second or third option. I was able to somewhat sneak attack. But now I’m preparing for them just like they’re preparing for me.”
Coach Walker has been watching Tornes settle into her new role and has been impressed.
He said she prepared for her expanded responsibilities with hard work in the offseason, and emerged as a true inside-outside threat.
“I think her biggest strength is seeing the floor and attacking gaps in the defense,” Walker said. “She does a good job of getting to and finishing at the basket, and she has a great outside shot because of all of her hard work. She’s always had great ball-handling skills, but now she is quicker off the dribble and better at hitting the shot off the dribble.”
Walker said the expectations have not bothered Tornes at all.
“Brooklynn doesn’t see any of it as pressure,” the coach said. “She is excited about playing every game. She is just out there freely hooping and is just really having fun, and I see it.”
Tornes has also emerged as the vocal leader of the Rockets, which is a big departure from the past, when she deferred to the older players and was pretty quiet.
“As a freshman and sophomore she didn’t say too much at all,” Walker said. “Last year we had five seniors, they kind of took the role of leadership, and Brooklynn spoke up a little bit but not as much as I would have liked.
“This year her voice has come out and matched her playing ability. She has done a great job of motivating her teammates and helping them to understand that getting better as a team is a process.”
Tornes said she simply realized it was her turn to lead.
“I knew I had big shoes to fill,” she said. “I knew with the girls coming up, I wanted to show them the leadership that I had growing up.”
Tornes is definitely hoping to play college basketball somewhere next season.
“I’ve heard from some schools,” she said. “I love the recognition I’m starting to get. I’m going to continue to work on getting that. I want to play at the next level. It’s always been a dream since I was younger. All the work I’ve put in has been toward that.”
Before she heads off to college, however, Tornes is determined to leave a positive mark on her young R-P teammates.
“I’d say one of the things is showing the younger girls how to lead,” she said. “I want to be able to look back on the memories we’ve made with each other. Whether we win or lose, I want to be proud of how much we improved and grew.”
