In one respect, the Reeths-Puffer boys basketball team had to be pleased with the way it competed against a very talented West Ottawa squad on Friday night, at least for one half.
The Rockets led after one quarter and were tied with the Panthers at halftime.
But a very rough third quarter allowed West Ottawa to gain the lead and eventually hand R-P its first loss of the season, 71-59.
The Rockets fell to 1-1 on the season.
“We got the chance to play one of the top 25 teams in the state on their floor, and we were tied at halftime,” said R-P head coach JR Wallace. “Now we just tip our hats to them and see where we can grow from this experience.”
Marvin Moore, who scored 25 points for the Rockets.
R-P got off to a great start, leading 18-15 after one quarter. The Rockets built that lead to seven points with 1:30 left in the second quarter, then the Panthers fought back and tied the score 28-28 at halftime.
West Ottawa took control in the third quarter, outscoring the Rockets 24-12. It was the second straight game that the Rockets were outplayed in the third, but they got away with it in Tuesday’s season opener, when they beat Zeeland East by four points.
“That’s two games in a row,” Wallace said about the troublesome third quarters. “We gave up 19 points last time and 24 tonight. We’re going back to the drawing board on that. One problem is that we didn’t take care of the ball. We had some unforced errors. Another thing was our inability to knock down three-pointers.”
The Rockets also suffered from a lack of overall offensive production. Senior Marvin Moore had another good night, scoring 25 points, but nobody else reached double figures. Artis Williams scored eight points for R-P, Anthony Neuman added six and Rodney Walker had four points.
“We have to have other people contribute and do their part,” Wallace said.
The Rockets will be off until next Friday when they hit the road again to play Grand Haven in another non-conference matchup.