WYOMING – Sitting at 3-4 overall and 0-2 in O-K Green conference play, it’s safe to say the Reeths-Puffer boys basketball team needed a win.
That’s just what the Rockets got on Friday with an exciting 66-53 conference road victory over Wyoming behind 30 points from junior Jaxson Whitaker.
The Rockets trailed by two points after three quarters, then rallied in a huge fourth quarter with Whitaker and Travis Ambrose each scoring 10 points down the stretch.
The victory broke a two-game losing streak for Reeths-Puffer.
“Jaxson is a great player,” R-P head coach Nate Aardema about Whitaker. “He’s just going to continue to get better and better. He does all of the right things. He’s a special talent. There is a reason that colleges are at our games, and he has offers. It’s the work he’s done and continues to do.”
R-P's Jaxson Whitaker, who scored 30 points in the victory. Photo/Andrew Johnson
Whitaker had an excellent first quarter, scoring 12 points to help his team take a 17-12 lead at the first buzzer.
“I was hot in the first quarter,” Whitaker said. “We were really moving the ball well. When they doubled, we found the open guy and that’s what really got us going at the start.”
Tayte Vanderleest and Whitaker each scored six points in the second quarter and the Rockets led 32-30 at halftime.
The R-P offense stalled in the third quarter, when the Rockets only scored seven points, and they found themselves trailing 41-39 heading into the fourth.
Ambrose had five of R-P’s points in the third and finished with 15.
R-P's Kyle Schlaff brings the ball up the court. Photo/Andrew Johnson
The Rockets used defensive energy and a combined 20 points from Whitaker and Ambrose in the fourth quarter to regain the lead for good. They outscored the Wolves 27-12 in the final eight minutes.
“We came with energy,” Whitaker said. “It shows what happens when we play like that. It feels great and I think the energy will continue.”
Tayte Vanderleest added nine points for Reeths-Puffer. Alviah Chandler had 28 points for Wyoming.
The Rockets are now 4-4 overall and 1-2 in conference play. They will travel to Zeeland East on Tuesday night and are hoping the positive momentum will lead to more victories.
“We needed it,” Aardema said about the win. “More than the win, we needed to have great energy. I thought we played hard tonight and had good energy. That’s contagious and that will allow us to battle through the ups and downs of a game. It was big for us.”
