MUSKEGON TOWNSHIP – The Reeths-Puffer girls basketball team was due to have a statement victory, and put everyone on alert that it will have a role to play in the O-K Green conference championship race.

The Rockets got that win on Tuesday, posting an impressive 46-35 victory over league-leading Muskegon at home to move into a tie for first place.

Reeths-Puffer, Muskegon and Mona Shores now all have 5-1 conference records, and it’s back to the type of three-way league race those teams had a few years ago.

Last year the Rockets were talented but young, and started showing signs of maturity toward the end of the season. Mona Shores won the conference and Muskegon was second.

Now the matured Rockets are very much in the thick of the hunt, and Coach Rodney Walker was excited about the victory.

Coach Rodney Walker and the Rockets huddle during a time out.

“It was a really good win for us,” said Walker, whose team is now 7-3 overall on the season. “We knew that team was going to give us a battle. They won against Shores, we lost pretty bad to Shores, so this was something we wanted to prove to keep the conference even.

“I made a statement at the beginning of the season that any team (in the conference) can win, it just depends on who shows up, and I think this proved it tonight.”

There’s no question that the R-P girls can do a lot of offensive damage when everything is clicking.

They like to get out and run and go straight for the hoop, and when the play shows down they can hit the threes.

The shots weren’t falling in the early stages of the game for the Rockets, who missed five of their first six shots from the floor.

Reeths-Puffer’s Sophia Hekkema (23) tosses up a shot past Muskegon defenders.

The Rockets trailed 11-10 after one quarter, but then the ball started finding the hoop for the home team.

Ariel Walker started the quarter with a driving layup and a three-pointer, then Hekkema added a triple, giving the Rockets an 18-13 lead not quite two minutes into the second.

Megan Barmes added another three in the quarter, the Rockets outscored the Big Reds 15-10 and led 25-21 at halftime.

R-P started the third quarter with fireworks, as well, when Hekkema and Williams both hit threes to give the Rockets a sudden 10-point lead at 31-21. Hekkema totaled seven points in the quarter while Williams had five, and the Rockets were 5-for-11 from the floor.

Muskegon battled back and cut the Rocket lead to 37-32 headed into the fourth.

The Rockets slowed down their offense, killed the clock and picked their shots in the fourth quarter, and outscored the Big Reds 9-3 to seal the win. Barmes, Williams and Walker all had key baskets, and R-P hit 3 of 5 free throws when they matted the most.

Williams and Hekkema each scored 13 points in the game while Walker had nine. That’s the type of balanced scoring that the Rockets have been getting all year, and it has resulted in a lot of wins.

Muskegon’s Alayna Hussey tries to find a pass while Reeths-Puffer’s Megan Barmes plays tight defense.

The only real down side for Reeths-Puffer came at the free throw line, where the team only made 4 of 15 shots.

“We have shooters and girls that can get to the basket,” Coach Walker said. “We just have to worry about free throws. We were horrific in that tonight.”

Muskegon went to the line a lot more, but only made 13 of 23 attempts. Those 10 missed points at the line would have almost covered the point spread between the two teams.

The Big Reds also struggled with field goals, making only 11 of 38 shots. Time after time Muskegon grabbed offensive rebounds but failed to make the putback attempts fall.

The Big Reds were also stung by some sloppy play that resulted in 15 turnovers.

JaMya Robinson and Alayna Hussey each had eight points for Muskegon while BreAnna Gamble-Jones and Iyana Lennox-Brooks each had seven.

Muskegon fell to 6-5 overall on the season.100