MU8KEGON - You couldn’t blame the Reeths-Puffer boys basketball players if they had blared Aretha Franklin’s classic song “Respect” in their locker room at Muskegon High School.
The Rockets finally earned the respect they’ve been working for on Tuesday night by stunning the state-ranked Muskegon Big Reds 63-45 in a huge O-K Green conference showdown at Redmond-Potter Gymnasium.
R-P handed the Big Reds their first regular season home loss since March 19, 2021. It was Reeths-Puffer’s first victory over Muskegon since March 16, 2021.
It was the tenth win in a row for Reeths-Puffer, which is now 13-1 overall and 7-0 in the conference. The Rockets are alone in first place in the O-K Green standings.
Travis Ambrose: 24 points, 14 rebounds, 10 blocks. Photo/Tyler Lirones
“The humble part of me wants to say it’s just another game,” said R-P head coach Nate Aardema. “But that’s not reality. They (Muskegon) played in the Breslin last year and I don’t know how many games they’ve lost here in years. When people talk about the west side of the state, they talk about Muskegon. Hopefully this will get some attention for our kids.”
Senior Travis Ambrose, who had a monster game with 24 points, 14 rebounds and 10 blocks, said he hopes the huge victory springboards the Rockets forward.
“It was good to be out there,” he said. “I was making a big impact on the court, and I couldn’t ask for better teammates who played great. But we’re not finished or settled. We’re coming and we've got some hard games still ahead of us.”
While the night ended with the Rocket players joining the student section in singing the school fight song, things started out shaky for R-P.
R-P's Jaxson Whitaker drives past a Big Red for two points. Photo/Tyler Lirones
Senior star Jaxson Whitaker picked up his second foul just 2:09 into the game with Reeths-Puffer trailing 2-1.
But Aardema trusted Whitaker and kept him in the game, which paid off because he ended up with just the two fouls.
After one quarter of play, the Rockets held a 14-8 advantage behind seven points and three big blocks from Ambrose.
In the second quarter, the Rocket zone defense took over, limiting the Big Reds to just three points as Reeths-Puffer extended its lead to 24-11 at halftime.
Muskegon was only 1-for-9 from the field and 1-for-4 from the free-throw line in the second while turning the ball over three times.
Ambrose goes in for a layup. Photo/Tyler Lirones
“The scheme isn’t as important as how well we execute it,” Aardema said about the defensive effort. “We had some success with zone against them in districts last year. Tonight, we did a good job of rotating and finding the shooters. The big thing is we got back in transition. It’s a huge advantage having Travis back there who erases things. It was just an incredible effort all around.”
While it often felt like the Big Reds were on the edge of making a run in the third quarter, the Rockets responded every time.
The Reeths-Puffer lead was cut to nine points multiple times, and got as narrow as eight points when Muskegon dunked the ball to cut its deficit to 33-25 with 1:14 left in the quarter.
But the Rockets closed out the third with a 4-0 run, making the score 37-25 headed into the fourth. Ambrose led R-P with six third-quarter points.
R-P's Antrel Jones lets a shot fly. Photo/Tyler Lirones
“I think I only called one time out to stop a run,” said Aardema about his team responding every time Muskegon tried to cut into the lead. “The rest of the time it was our guys who have been in the moment. They’ve done a good job this year of staying in the moment and not getting rattled. I think they’ve gained enough confidence in themselves to know we’ll have ups and downs.”
With 3:30 remaining in the fourth quarter, Whitaker, who specializes in three-pointers and driving the lane for points, rose up for a rare dunk to make the score 47-32, which marked the beginning of the Rockets' celebration.
“I think the adrenaline got to him a little bit,” Ambrose said about Whitaker’s dunk. “But he’s one of the best basketball players in the state. I know he’s one of the most dominant players when he wants to be, and tonight showed who he is.”
Reeths-Puffer went on a 10-3 run over the next 1:26 to extend the lead to 57-35 and ultimately cruise to the huge victory.
Whitaker dribbles past a Muskegon defender. Photo/Tyler Lirones
Sophomore Marvin Moore scored 14 points for the Rockets while Whitaker finished with 13.
Muskegon was led by Keashaun Johnson with 11 points.
“It’s big,” Aardema said about the importance of the conference victory. “We’re now 7-0 in the league and we got one game on them and a couple game lead on everybody else. We have to continue growing and developing, but it’s huge. It’s a win we can be incredibly proud of tonight."
The Rockets will next to Mona Shores on Friday night for another conference challenge.