MUSKEGON - It’s best to take advantage of the Muskegon girls basketball team when the Big Reds are shooting badly, because sooner or later their shots are going to fall.
The Reeths-Puffer girls did not do that on Tuesday, and it cost them in a key O-K Green basketball matchup.
The Big Reds, undefeated in conference play, came out cold against R-P, missing 12 of their first 13 shots from the floor.
That was a golden opportunity for the underdog Rockets to gain a lead and some crucial confidence against their very skilled visitors.
But Reeths-Puffer was just as icy in the shot department, missing 11 of its first 13 attempts.
R-P's Brooklynn Tornes tries to fight her way to the bucket. Photo/Joe Lane
Then the game got rolling, the teams played pretty even for two quarters, but the Big Reds pulled away in the second half and beat the Rockets 55-40.
The loss was the third in four games for Reeths-Puffer, which has hit a bit of a wall after ripping off four straight wins to start the month of January.
The Rockets are now 5-8 overall and 4-3 in conference play. Muskegon improved to 9-4 and 7-0.
Senior Brooklynn Tornes scored a game-high 28 points for Reeths-Puffer, but nobody else on the team scored more than six.
“We did a really good job defensively in the first half,” said R-P Coach Rodney Walker. “If we could have gotten some points it would have definitely changed the trajectory of the game.
“We just talked about it (after the game). We feel like we are getting better, but we have to find a way to win games. We need to learn how to win games rather than just competing at this point.”
R-P's Megan Barmes brings the ball up the court. Photo/Joe Lane
The focus of the season will now change a bit for the Rockets, who are three games out of first place in the O-K Green standings.
Defending their 2022-23 conference title seems like a long shot, at best.
But the Rockets still have a ton to play for, including a rematch with Muskegon just around the corner, and the Division 1 district tournament at the end of the regular season.
Coach Walker remains convinced that his girls can play with Muskegon, or any other team, if they start performing the way they can.
“I think our team can compete with anyone in the conference and beyond,” he said. “You watch us in warmups and you think we’re one of the better shooting teams in the conference, then when the game starts we haven’t found the people who can put the ball in the basket. Once we do that we will be in great shape.
“It’s gut check time. We’re going to try to get more girls to step it up and probably go a little deeper into the bench moving forward.”
R-P's Jenna Terpstra tries to shoot over a Big Red. Photo/Joe Lane
Muskegon only led 9-6 after one quarter and 19-17 at halftime. The Big Reds got plenty of shots, and second and third chances after misses, but only converted 8 of 33 field goal attempts in the first two quarters.
The Rockets missed plenty of shots as well, but R-P star Brooklynn Tornes kept them in the game in the second quarter, scoring all 11 of her team’s points.
Tornes cooled off in the third quarter, however, only scoring two points, and the Big Reds used the opportunity to take off.
They outscored the Rockets 20-5 in the third and had a commanding 39-22 lead heading into the fourth. Muskegon’s Mariah Sain did the most damage, scoring 11 points.
Reeths-Puffer made only 1 of 9 shots in the quarter and hurt itself with four turnovers.
Tornes dribbles past a Muskegon defender. Photo/Joe Lane
The Rockets tried to fight back in the final quarter, outscoring Muskegon 18-16 with 11 more points from Tornes, but it was too little, too late.
The Big Reds had a big advantage with five three-pointers, compared to none for Reeths-Puffer.
“I thought (Muskegon) did a great job rebounding the ball and getting scrap points,” Walker said. “They seemed to do a really good job of that. That’s what hurt us tonight, not limiting them to one shot.”
Sain led Muskegon with 21 points while Camiyah Bonner scored 11.
