GRAND HAVEN – The Reeths-Puffer boys basketball team is far from a finished product, which was obvious on Friday night in a 67-53 non-conference loss to undefeated Grand Haven.
But the Rockets show flashes of what they may be like down the road. A good example was how they kept battling on Friday and made the final score respectable against a very good team, after a very bad first quarter.
Head coach JR Wallace pointed to the R-P freshman and junior varsity teams, which both beat Grand Haven, and said his varsity is capable of similar success.
R-P's Zayden Scheider gets a shot off. Photo/Tyler Lirones
“You can see it with the freshmen getting their first win today and the junior varsity blowout win,” he said. “But that’s not going to just carry over to the varsity level. We’ll have to work for it.”
In the first quarter, Reeths-Puffer turned the ball over five times, scored only four points, and found itself on the short end of a 15-4 score.
The Rockets pulled themselves together, however, and played much better the rest of the way.
R-P's Justin Chan drives in for a layup. Photo/Tyler Lirones
They were only outscored 16-13 in the second quarter and trailed 31-17 at halftime.
Marvin Moore led the Rockets with seven points in the second quarter while Anthony Neuman and sophomore Artis Williams each added three.
The third quarter was also really close. R-P was outscored 18-17 and trailed 49-34 heading into the fourth.
R-P's Hank Mitchelson dribbles past a Buccaneer. Photos/Tyler Lirones
Moore and Justin Chan each had six points in the third while Jamichael Williams added three points and Artis Williams added two.
Moore hit a two-point basket and added a free throw to cut the Rocket deficit to just 51-40 with 6:44 left in the game.
The Rockets got even closer with 5:36 remaining when Chan knocked in a three-pointer make the score 53-43.
Chan tries to get past a defender. Photo/Tyler Lirones
But that was as close as they got, and the Rockets were outscored 14-10 the rest of the game.
R-P actually had an 19-18 edge in the fourth, behind 11 points from Moore.
Moore led the Rockets with 26 points in the loss while Artis Williams finished with eight.
R-P's Anthony Neuman puts up a shot. Photo/Tyler Lirones
The Rockets are now 1-2 overall on the season and will take the court again on Saturday when they host Marquette at 2 p.m.
Grand Haven improved to 4-0.
“We’re trying to figure out our guys,” said Wallace about his roster, specifically the four sophomores, three of whom still spend most of their time with the JV. “We’re trying to figure out their minutes and how they can adjust and play, especially in back-to-back games.
“It’s a journey. It’s a journey to get to late February and March. So we’re trying to get better every day and learn from what we do on film. We’ll see what we can do tomorrow with a back-to-back.”