MUSKEGON TOWNSHIP – Teams who have experienced success tend to be ready for big moments, and the Mona Shores girls basketball team was more than ready for a big challenge on Friday night.
The Sailors went head-to-head with conference rival Reeths-Puffer in a showdown for a Division 1 district championship.
On paper, the game should have been a nail-biter, because R-P is very good, and the teams split a pair of games in the regular season, along with the O-K Green conference championship,
But when game time came, the Sailors quickly rose to the top. They have won or shared two straight conference titles, and won the district last season, and their experience showed in a 70-56 victory at Reeths-Puffer High School.
[1]Mona Shores, now 19-3 on the season, now moves on to regionals to play Rockford on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. at Byron Center High School.
“It means a lot,” Sailor sophomore guard Khaleeya Cook said about winning a district title after months of hard preparation. “We’ve been in the gym doing our thing.”
“I think last year started a standard for us,” added Mona Shores Coach Mike Phillips. “I hope every kid who comes into our program has this expectation. This is what we work for and expect. It starts in the offseason.”
The Sailors were so ready to play on Friday night that they made 9 of 10 shots to start the game.
“The kids were really focused,” Phillips said. “Ultimately you have to make some shots, and we made them to get them to switch out of their zone.”
[2]The offensive output was impressive all night, with four Mona Shores players finishing in double figures.
Cook led the Sailors with 18 points while Jenna Tierman totaled 16 and Ali Phillips and Lily Miller scored 12 points apiece.
Mona Shores led 22-10 after one quarter, with Tierman totaling eight points.
The second quarter was more even, and the Sailors led 37-23 lead into halftime.
Sophomore Megan Barmes kept the Rockets in the game with eight points in the second quarter, while Miller responded with six points for Mona Shores.
The Rockets outscored Mona Shores 19-14 in the third quarter to cut their deficit to 51-42. R-P’s Ariel Walker scored all five of her points in the third.
The game got even tighter at the start of the fourth quarter when Reeths-Puffer’s Arrionna Willliams nailed a triple to make it a six-point game.
[3]But the Rockets never got any closer than that, due in large part to Cook, who scored eight points down the stretch for the Sailors, including several clutch free throws.
“It felt good,” said Cook about scoring with the game on the line. “I just took my time and let go of my shot. I lined my feet up and watched them go in.”
Williams paced Reeths-Puffer with 17 points, Barmes and Brooklynn Tornes each had 11 and Sophia Hekkema finished with 10.
The Rockets wrapped up their season with a 16-6 record, a share of the O-K Green championship, and high hopes for the future with four starters returning next season.
“I told them to remember how this feels, you don’t want to feel like this,” said R-P Coach Rodney Walker. “I told them ‘This will push you to come to summer workouts, so we don’t have to feel like this again.’”
Meanwhile, the Sailors will prepare for Rockford at some point, but Phillips said he will rely on the players to let him know when they are ready.
“They’ll let me know if they want to get in the gym on Sunday or not,” the coach said. “They’ll be honest. I’m not sure getting on the floor for a full practice will be best for their bodies, but they’ll let me know if they need rest.”
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