The Reeths-Puffer girls basketball team was really good last season, and with three of the top starters from that squad returning, figures to be the same this winter.
But just how good can the Rockets be? That’s totally up to them, according to veteran head coach Rodney Walker.
Walker certainly knows what he’s talking about. He’s the coach who took the Muskegon girls basketball team all the way to the state semifinals in 2017, and he thinks he sees the same type of potential in this year’s R-P squad.
Turning that potential into accomplishment will be the players' challenge.
R-P's Sophia Hekkema snags a rebound in a game last season.
"I do think this team has that type of potential,” said Walker, whose team will visit Big Rapids on Tuesday night in the season opener. “We have a great coaching staff, and they are doing a great job of pushing the young ladies to be their best.
“I think, yes, we can be a special team if the girls believe in the messaging and are receptive to the coaching, including heat-of-the-moment coaching.”
The Rockets demonstrated what they could do last season when they finished 16-6 overall, 12-2 in conference play and tied for the O-K Green championship with Mona Shores.
They hosted the local Division 1 district tournament and wanted very much to add a district title to their conference trophy, but fell to Mona Shores 70-56 in the championship game after splitting two games with the Sailors in the regular season.
“It took me about three weeks to get over that one,” Walker said.
R-P's Ariel Walker shoots over several Mona Shores defenders in a game last season.
When the disappointment from the district title loss eased up a bit, Walker was able to turn his attention to this season and all the promise it holds.
R-P returns three of the four main players from last year’s team - senior forward Sophia Hekkema, senior guard Ariel Walker and junior point guard Brooklynn Tornes, and all have a ton of experience, skill and confidence.
Hekkema and Walker are fourth-year starters while Tornes is a third-year starter.
Coach Walker calls Hekkema a candidate for the Miss Basketball award - which goes to the state’s top player at the end of the season - and her junior year stats tell us why.
She averaged 16.7 points, 9.6 rebounds and 2.8 steals per game last season, and should only get better in her senior year.
Megan Barmes (2) plays some tough defense against Muskegon last season.
“She can play all five positions,” Walker said about Hekkema. “Everything from point guard to forward. Having a player that you can move around and always know she is going to produce is a very good thing for our team.”
Walker, the coach’s daughter, can hit shots from the outside or drive to the bucket for easy points. Last season she averaged 13.7 points per game, 3.2 steals and 3.1 rebounds.
“She gives us that outside threat,” the coach said about his daughter. “She has grown tremendously from her freshman to her senior year. She does a good job of finishing at the basket, knocking down open shots, getting in pass lanes and getting steals.”
Tornes, a junior, transferred in from Muskegon as a freshman and made a name for herself last year, averaging 9.1 points per game, along with 3.3 rebounds and three steals.
She’s the point guard who’s like a quarterback on the court and will set up the R-P offense for success this season.
“She is our floor general,” Walker said about Tornes. “She’s a junior who’s playing like a senior. She makes the game very easy for everyone else.”
R-P's big four last year (from left) Arionna Williams (who has graduated), along with Brooklynn Tornes, Ariel Walker and Sophia Hekkema, who all return this season.
Walker said his team will have a lot of depth, with seniors Ashlynn Anderson, Billie Tryska, Malaina Peterson and Ella Klimsza, juniors Megan Barmes and Irelyn Niklasch, sophomores Savannah Lockwood, Jenna Terpstra and Mya Swain, and promising freshman Jayla Rosel playing various roles on the team.
There’s no doubt that the Rockets will score a lot of points this season. The real question, according to Walker, is how well they will play on the defensive end, and if they can turn a lockdown defense into a lot of transition points on offense.
The Rockets had a great defender last year in Arionna Williams, who graduated in the spring, and Walker is hoping the team will pick up some of her traits this year.
“Arionna was one of those players who was a lock-down defender, and I hope all the girls can have that kind of swag this year,” Walker said. “If we can bottle up some of the things she was able to give us, we will be a special team.
”We have to always focus on defense first and be a good transition defensive team. Hopefully our defense becomes our brand, because we have three players who can get out (in transition after defensive stops) and run and score and make the game easier.”