R-P senior guard Dontreal McKinley, above, returned from injury to help his Rockets past Kenowa Hills Friday night.
MUSKEGON — The Reeths-Puffer Rockets seemed to hace turned the tide on their season, especially after Friday night’s 61-38 pounding of O-K Black Conference foe Kenowa Hills, giving to team two-such wins on the week after dropping their previous four contests.
The Rockets looked at the top of their game Friday night, overcoming early jitters to take the 16-13 first-quarter lead.
But early in the second quarter, senior guard Dontreal McKinley, who went down a week ago with a leg injury versus Grand Rapids Union, entered the game, and the contest would be all Rockets from that point on.
Seemingly bolstered by McKinley’s presence, sophomore guard Jhamonte Melton scored eight of his 12 points in the half, while senior forward Chris Anderson bothered the Knights on both ends of the floor to push the pace of the game.
Anderson was honored before the game for being selected as a McDonalds’ High School All-American team honoree (the finalists will be named next week), and he appearentty took the honor to heart, providing several jams that electrified the crowd and pumped up his teammates.
Finishing the first on a 7-2 run, the Rockets opened the second on a 7-0 run, outscoreing the Knights 16-7 in the quarter to lead 32-20 a the break.
After extending their edge to 42-29 after three, the Rockets unleashed a 17-4 run to open the fourth, en route to the blowout victory.
Anderson and senior Joe Melton led the Rockets with 14 points apiece, while Jhamonte Melton added 12 and Ben Jordan poured in nine in the win.
The Knights were paced by 14 points from junior Stephen Thompson and 11 points from senior Brian Schweitzer.
Kenowa Hills 38: Thompson 5 1-7 14, Vereeke 1 0-0 2, Versluis 0 3-4 3, Kersjes 0 2-2 2, Schweitzer 5 0-0 11, Allen 1 0-0 2. Totals 12 6-13 38.
Reeths-Puffer 61: Jhamonte Melton 6 0-1 12, Dontreal McKinley 2 0-0 4, Darius Green 1 0-0 2, Ryan Oosting 1 2-3 4, Scott Schultz 1 0-0 2, William Coons 0 0-1 0, Chris Anderson 7 0-1 14, Joe Melton 3 7-9 14, Ben Jordan 3 3-5 9. Totals 24 12-20 61.
Three-point field goals: Thompson 3, Schweitzer, Joe Melton. Total fouls: Kenowa Hills 18, Reeths-Puffer 11. Fouled out: none. Technical fouls: Vereeke.
Reeths-Puffer 16 16 10 19-61
Kenowa Hills 13 7 9 9-38
Whitehall stays perfect on road
RAVENNA - The first time Ravenna and Whitehall met this season Ravenna came out the victor by four Jan. 5 in a physical West Michigan Conference boys basketball contest.
This time, Whitehall matched the Bulldogs’ physical play and remained perfect on the road this season with a 61-44 win Friday night. The win moved the Vikings into a third place tie with Muskegon Oakridge.
“It was incredibly physical tonight,” Whitehall Coach Nate Aardema said.
The Vikings (7-5, 6-4) took advantage of Ravenna’s foul situation in the second half. Whitehall was aggressive to the basket in the third quarter, forcing six Ravenna fouls.
So, Whitehall, leading by nine heading into the fourth, got into the bonus early and hit 16-22 from the line to close out the game.
Whitehall had a balanced scoring attack with Christian Subdon the leader with 12, including two triples. Tyler Van Bergen had 10 points and 13 rebounds. Each had four assists.
Matt Vanderwal with 14 and Jamohn Martin with 12 led Ravenna (5-5, 7-7) in scoring.
Whitehall 61: Jacob Uithoven 2 1-2 5, Ryan Butzer 1 4-7 7, Christian Subdon 2 6-7 12, Tyler Van Bergen 3 3-6 10, Travis Love 3 3-4 9, Brandon DeLaRosa 4 0-0 8, Aaron Russell 3 1-1 7, Alex Witek 0 1-2 1, Collin Manns 0 2-2 2. Totals 18 21-30 61.
Ravenna 44: Dunning 1 2-2 4, Martin 5 0-0 12, Vanderwal 3 7-11 14, Kantola 3 0-5 6, Evan Aue 1 1-2 4, Ryan Hogan 0 3-4 3, Andrew Cook 0 1-2 1. Totals 13 14-26 44.
Three-point field goals: Butzer, Subdon 2, Van Bergen, Martin 2, Vanderwal, Aue. Total fouls: Whitehall 18, Ravenna 24. Fouled out: Dunning, Kantola. Technical fouls: none. JV Score: Whitehall won.
Whitehall 16 12 7 27-61
Ravenna 10 9 7 18-44
Wildcats down Mason Co. Central
SCOTTVILLE - Montague remains in a tie for first place in the West Michigan Conference boys basketball race with an 84-71 win at Mason County Central Friday night.
The Wildcats site atop the league standings with Shelby. Each have 8-2 league records. Montague is 9-2 overall, while MCC fell to 2-8, 4-9.
Montague, leading by two, 19-17, after one quarter, exploded in the second to outscore the host Spartans 21-5.
MCC cut into Montague’s lead some in the third quarter, but the Wildcats finished strong for the win.
Montague was led by senior Cody Kater with 19, freshman Brandon Moore with 18 and senior Matt DeJong with 15 in the high-scoring contest.
The host Spartans were led by Jared Lauber with 23, including four threes. David Soraci and Nino Gonzales each scored 11.
Montague 84: Brandon Kieft 2 3-5 8, Cody Kater 7 4-4 19, Dylan Ode 0 1-3 1, Brandon Moore 8 2-3 18, Anthony Guerra 4 0-0 9 Spencer Root 2 0-2 4, Matt DeJong 6 3-3 15, Anthony Root 1 4-4 6, Paul Lombard 2 0-0 4. Totals 32 17-24 84.
Mason County Central 71: Cox 1 0-0 2, Companion 1 0-0 2, Jackoviak 1 3-4 6, Soraci 5 0-1 11, Lauber 8 3-4 23, Deller 3 0-0 6, Gonzales 4 2-2 11, Melchert 3 0-0 6, Ambrose 1 0-0 2, Young 1 0-0 2. Totals 28 8-11 71.
Three-point field goals: Kieft, Kater, Guerra, Jackoviak, Soraci, Lauber 4, Gonzales. Total fouls: Montague 15, MCC 19. Technical fouls: none.
Montague 19 21 17 27-84
Mason CC 17 5 26 23-71
