MUSKEGON – Reeths-Puffer’s Ariel Walker only scored seven points on Tuesday night, but her last three made all the difference in a very big game for her team.

The Rockets and Muskegon Big Reds came into the contest tied with each other and Mona Shores for the lead in the O-K Green conference, with only two league games left for all three teams.

A victory was critical for both R-P and Muskegon, and they fought bitterly to get it.

Muskegon’s Ayana Lenox-Brooks hit a free throw with 1:19 left, tying the score 45-45, and it was anybody’s ballgame.

That’s when Walker found herself with a big opportunity, and did not disappoint her team. She took a pass from teammate Arrionna Williams in the corner and drained a huge triple to put the Rockets up 48-45. After a missed shot by Muskegon, R-P’s Sophia Hekkema added anlayup, and the Rockets escaped with a 50-45 win and took a big step toward a share of the conference championship.

“I was just trying to win it for my team,” Walker said. “I’ve hit big shots before, so it was nothing new. I’d been practicing that shot all day.”

“That was probably one of the biggest shots of her career,” said Reeths-Puffer Coach Rodney Walker, who is also Ariel’s dad. “She was able to get free, they found her in the corner, and she was able to knock it down.”

Mona Shores also won on Tuesday, so the Rockets and the Sailors head into the last game of the season tied for the O-K Green lead. R-P will host Grand Rapids Union while Mona Shores will visit Wyoming. Both teams can clinch at least a share of the conference title with victories.

Muskegon, which held a one-game lead in the conference before falling to Mona Shores last Friday, will visit Zeeland East. The Big Reds need to win that game, and hope that both R-P and Mona Shores lose to gain a share of the crown.

Muskegon took a 1-0 lead just 16 seconds into the game and held it for more than four scoreless minutes. Williams finally put Reeths-Puffer on the board and scored four points in the first quarter, and the Rockets led 10-6 heading into the second.

The Reeths-Puffer girls maintained a small lead through most of the second quarter, but the Big Reds stopped them from scoring for the final three minutes. Muskegon’s Jamya Robinson scored seven points in the second, including a three-pointer that tied the game, and the Big Reds ended the half leading 18-15.

The Rockets put themselves back into the game in the third quarter, outscoring the Big Reds 18-14 and taking a 33-32 edge into the fourth. Williams exploded for 12 points in the third, including two triples.

“I think we settled in a little bit,” said Coach Walker. “In the second quarter, the girls were just taking shots. At halftime, that was one of the conversations we had in the locker room. I felt like we were rushing our shots versus taking the shot that we wanted. In the second half, we did a great job of looking for an open man, and then we were able to knock down good shots.”

The teams fought tooth and nail throughout the fourth quarter, with the Big Reds barely maintaining a lead. Hekkema had a three-point play to put the Rockets ahead 45-44, only to have Muskegon’s Lenox-Brooks tie the game with a free throw with just over a minute remaining.

That’s when Williams nabbed a rebound off of a Muskegon miss and found Ariel Walker in the corner, and she drained the three in the biggest shot of the night.  Then Hekkema’s last-second layup put the victory on ice for R-P.

“We knew this was a big game, especially coming into their home court on senior night,” Coach Walker said. “We knew they were coming out on an emotional high.”

Williams led the Rockets in scoring with 19 points, including three three-pointers, with Sophia Hekkema adding 13 points.

Robinson scored 15 points to lead the Big Reds, followed by Layla Harris with 10 and Lenox-Brooks with nine.