MUSKEGON TWP. – Sometimes a team can do everything it can do, and still finish in second place.

The key phrase there is “everything it can do,” and the Fruitport competitive cheer team is working on expanding that list.

The Trojans came up short in Round 2 on Monday and finished in second place at the Reeths-Puffer Competitive Cheer Meet.

Fruitport finished with 716.8 points, behind first-place Reeths-Puffer, an O-K Green conference power, which had 737.7 points.

It was the first time in six meets this season that the Trojans did not finish in first place.

It’s not that Fruitport performed badly, or really any worse than usual.

It’s just that the Trojans are still working on expanding their menu of Round 2 skills, so they can do some of the things that other outstanding teams, like Reeths-Puffer, can do.

The first and third round were pretty even, with Fruitport edging R-P 225.9-223.2 in Round 1 (execution), and Reeths-Puffer sneaking past the Trojans 297.6-295.6 in Round 3 (stunts)

The difference was clearly in Round 2 (overall skills), where R-P pulled away with a 212.9-195.3 advantage.

“We don’t have the higher skills, and it impacts our overall scores,” said Fruitport Coach Saqora Conklin, who added that her team is working hard to do more impressive things on the mat. “Our motions were great. It’s just our lack of overall skills holding us back.”

When asked if she was disappointed with finishing lower than first place for the first time, Conklin noted that it’s hard to be unhappy when the team does everything it was asked to do.

“Puffer is a good team and our girls worked hard,” she said. “We scored our second-highest point total of the season and we broke our Round 1 record score, so I’ll take it. It was a good day.

“As long as we do our best, I am okay with whatever.”

Conklin, who likes to highlight different team members after events, gave a shout out to Julia Smith and Angela Lambert, who have both missed time this year but are playing big roles.

“Julia had an arm injury last week, came back in Rounds 1 and 3 tonight and absolutely killed it,” the coach said. “Angela, who was in all three rounds, was out for a while earlier this season but now she’s doing really good.”

Fruitport will host a meet on Saturday, beginning at 9 a.m.