MUSKEGON TWP. – The Reeths-Puffer girls basketball team was desperately in need of a feel-good game after a rough start to the season.
It came on Monday, when the very young Rockets, who have numerous freshmen and sophomores in their regular rotation, spung to life with their first victory, 51-18 over Sparta at home.
The victory improves the Rockets’ record to 1-5, and comes on the heels of two painful one-sided losses last week to Hudsonville and Grand Haven.
“It’s about time,” said R-P head coach Rodney Walker. “I thought we did some good things defensively tonight. Some of the things we’ve been working on. We were able to switch it up between our three defenses, and I thought we did a great job of playing in passing lanes.
R-P's Chloe Brainard shoots over defenders. Photo/Jeremy Clark
"Our schedule is tough at the beginning, but we want to get battle-tested. I think we’ve done that, and we’ve learned from those things.”
The biggest star of the first win was freshman Raquel Walker., who totaled 21 points, 10 rebounds and three assists.
“It feels great,” Walker said about her big night. “It means a lot overall. It feels really good to win, and it’s really the team bonding that matters.”
The victory was also the first together for Coach Walker and Raquel Walker, who are father and daughter.
R-P's Savannah Lockwood brings the ball up the court. Photo/Jeremy Clark
“It’s special,” Coach Walker said. “It’s hard to coach your own kid. But you really like seeing the good things that come from the hard work that she’s put in.”
Reeths-Puffer cruised from the beginning, leading 12-3 after one quarter, with six points coming from Walker.
The R-P defense was clearly effective out of the gate. Sparta was held to 1-for-12 shooting in the opening quarter and turned the ball over five times.
It was more of the same in the second quarter, when the Rockets outscored Sparta 17-2 to take a 29-5 halftime lead.
R-P's Ashlynn David takes a jump shot. Photo/Jeremy Clark
Walker had eight second-quarter points while sophomore Ashlyn David chipped in six.
The game was more even in the second half.
Reeths-Puffer outscored Sparta 10-8 in the third quarter to take a 39-13 lead. Four different Rockets scored in the third.
That continued in the fourth quarter, when five different Rockets totaled 12 points and R-P cruised to the victory.
R-P's Raquel Walker, who scored 21 points. Photo/Jeremy Clark
David totaled eight points and 10 rebounds for Reeths-Puffer while Grace Tindall finished with six points, three rebounds and three steals.
Savannah Lockwood added five points and six rebounds.
The Rockets are hoping to continued the winning later this week, when they travel to Grand Rapids Christian on Thursday and host Grand River Prep on Friday.
“I’ve just focused on the positive,” Coach Walker said. “That’s one of the things I talked about before the game. I talked to each player about some of the individual great things they do, and I think it really showed tonight.”