MUSKEGON – It’s fun to think about how good the Muskegon girls basketball team might be in a few years.
After all, 8 of the 13 players on the Big Reds’ roster are freshmen or sophomores, and they’re only going to keep getting better.
But the Big Reds aren’t interested in the future right now, because the current season is going just fine.
That was obvious on Friday when Muskegon downed a very good Mona Shores Squad 38-27 to complete its first round of games in the O-K Green conference with an undefeated record.
[1]Ty’Veonna Davis, the only senior starter for the Big Reds, led the way with 16 points. Bre’Asia Gamble Jones, a sophomore, added nine points to the effort.
Muskegon is 7-0 and in first place in the O-K Green, with another round of games against every conference opponent still coming.
Reeths-Puffer is second in the league with one loss, which came against Muskegon in the first conference game.
“We’re definitely pleased,” said Muskegon Coach Bernard Loudermill. “The girls are understanding each other more and working through some things collectively, so to get to 7-0 is definitely a good task.”
The Big Reds are an interesting team to watch, because sometimes the talent is obvious and the results are pretty impressive, and sometimes they still look like underclassmen who are figuring out the varsity game.
[2]The good news is that the youthful mistakes are becoming less frequent and the players are maturing together, Loudermill said.
“It’s getting less and less, and it’s part of the growth process,” the coach said. “We’re going to make mistakes, but it’s about going to the next play. Don’t make a mistake then make another mistake by not hustling. Regardless of how young you are, you still have to hustle.
“If you’re stepping on the court as a varsity player, there are certain expectations. We always play hard, we play together as a unit, and if we make mistakes we keep playing. Freshman or senior, they have the same expectations.”
A quick glance at Muskegon’s overall record might be a bit misleading. The Big Reds are 9-5 against all opponents, but their losses came early in the season against some really good teams, and those teams were on the schedule to help the young players get ready for the challenges of conference play and the state tournament.
“We had a tough non-league schedule,” Loudermill said. “We want to play the top teams. All of our losses came against ranked opponents.”
[3]Muskegon gained a permanent advantage with a good first quarter, outscoring the Sailors 12- 5.
Davis opened the scoring with a three-pointer, followed by a steal and layup, and finished the quarter with five points. Bre’Asia Gamble-Jones added a triple in the first while Breanna Gamble-Jones had a bucket and two free throws.
The second quarter was more even, with Mona Shores outscoring Muskegon 8-6 and the Big Reds taking an 18-13 lead to the locker room.
The Big Reds padded their lead a bit in the third quarter with an 11-8 advantage. Muskegon only led by 21-20 with three minutes left in the third, then Mariah Sain nailed a layup, Davis hit a short jumper and added a free throw, and Bre’Asia Gamble-Jones sank a triple with two seconds left, giving the home team a 29-21 lead heading into the fourth.
[4]Mona Shores’ Khaleeya Cook led off the fourth quarter with a three-pointer, followed by a steal and layup, to make it a three-point game. But the Big Reds finished the contest with a 9-1 run to ice the victory and keep their perfect conference record intact.
Davis hit a pair of buckets down the stretch for Muskegon, Bre’Asia Gamble-Jones had a layup and free throw, and Sain closed out the scorebook with a pair of free throws.
Cook led Mona Shores with 14 points while Laynie Russell added 10.
Mona Shores is now 9-6 overall.
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