MUSKEGON TWP, - The final scores didn’t seem to suggest it, but Reeths-Puffer girls basketball coach Rodney Walker kept saying that once January rolled around, we would see a much better version of his team.
We found out what he was talking about on Tuesday night.
The Rockets, who did not look very strong while losing their first five games of the season, started the new year the right way by posting an impressive 51-38 victory at home over Jenison in non-conference action.
It was a huge victory for Reeths-Puffer, which not only won its first game, but beat a team that came in with a 3-1 record.
The Rockets, who basically started from scratch with four new starters this season, looked like a completely different team in several big ways.
R-P's Brooklynn Tornes gets ready to make a move around a defender.
While they got another great outing from leading scorer Brooklynn Tornes, who had a game-high 22 points, they also got scoring from seven other players, including guard Megan Barmes, who finished with 12 points, including two three-pointers.
They also had a strong defensive effort, forcing a lot of Jenison turnovers and snagging a lot of defensive rebounds, which allowed the Rockets to run in transition and score a lot of easy points.
This was the version of the Rockets that Walker has been waiting to introduce to the world.
“I think, having a young team, we needed to figure out where the pieces fit,” the coach said. “We were able to do that in the first part of the season, and now we are just figuring out where we’re at defensively and who can provide a spark off the bench. Just being sound defensively made a big difference for us tonight.”
Walker said one big step forward was having more girls feel comfortable shooting the ball. Before Tuesday, the offense pretty much consisted of Tornes and nobody else on most nights.
R-P's Irelyn Niklasch shoots over a Jenison player.
“You notice in warmups, everybody is taking shots and it looks good, then we would get in games and everybody was uncomfortable,” the coach said. “To me the biggest difference is that everybody is feeling more confidence, and we don’t have to rely on just one person to score.”
The first quarter was kind of slow for both teams, but Barmes opened the scoring with a three-pointer and added another basket. Tornes nailed three free throws and Irelyn Niklasch had a bucket, giving the Rockets a 10-4 lead at the first buzzer.
R-P opened up its offense in the second quarter, when four different players scored, led by Barmes and Tornes with five points apiece. The Rockets had a 14-4 edge in the quarter and led 24-8 at halftime.
Tornes hit three buckets in the third quarter while Barmes, Niklasch, Savannah Lockwood and Mallorie Messer each had one, giving R-P a 38-22 advantage heading into the fourth.
Tornes saved her most productive quarter for the end, tossing in eight points in the final eight minutes to help the Rockets seal up the victory.
R-P's Savannah Lockwood defends against Jenison's Reese Stedman.
R-P played strong defense throughout the game, forcing many of Jenison’s 21 turnovers. Tornes led that effort with six steals.
R-P also did a great job on the boards, particularly with defensive rebounds, holding the Wildcats to one shot on many tripes down the floor. Tornes had nine rebounds, including eight on the defensive end, Niklasch had seven rebounds (four defensive) and freshman Ashlyn David had five boards, including three on defense.
Reeths-Puffer had a 61-48 advantage in field goal attempts, which illustrated its success in keeping Jenison from getting on track offensively.
“That’s our goal, to limit teams to one shot,” Walker said.
The Rockets will open O-K Green conference play with a home game against Mona Shores on Friday night.
