By Jim Goorman
Local Sports Journal

A 27-point fourth quarter outburst helped the Mona Shores boys basketball team down Reeths-Puffer 76-50 Friday in O-K Black Conference play.

In a game of runs, the Sailors jumped out to a 7-0 lead and used scoring spurts in every quarter to pull away against the Rockets. A  decisive 10-0 run in the fourth quarter sealed the victory for Mona Shores.

Mona Shores opened the game with a three-pointer from Marcus Tumblin, followed by buckets from Logan Smith and Kobe Burse.

Reeths-Puffer rallied with a 17-15 edge in the second quarter and trailed 33-25 at halftime.

“They played harder than we did the first half,” said Sailor Coach Gene Gifford. “They got to the loose balls and hit the offensive boards in the first quarter. I am disappointed with our lack of focus in the first half.”

A pair of 6-0 runs in the third quarter gave Mona Shores a 49-39 edge at the buzzer.

The Sailors lowered the boom by scoring the first 10 points of the fourth quarter and pulling away.

Cam Mathews sparked the final blast with a steal and free throw and Adreon Billips added a three-pointer. The spark came from the Mona Shores full court press, which caused the Rockets to falter down the stretch.

“We practiced hard yesterday preparing for that press but we lost our focus,” said R-P Coach Dave Ingles. “We made sophomore mistakes (referring to three sophomores in their starting line up). If we don’t, we could compete with teams.

“I thought our effort was fantastic and if we don’t have these lulls, we will be OK.”

Logan Haugh paced Mona Shosre with 15 points and 9 rebounds.  Also in double figures were Adreon Billips with 14 points, Kobe Burse and Marcus Tumblin with 10, and Cam Mathews with 9. Burse also had a dunk after a steal along with 6 rebounds and three total steals.

The Rockets were led by two sophomores – Jalen Cooley with a game high 17 points and DeAndre Oakes-Owens with 11 points.  Both coaches had praise for each other as well as their teams.

“It was a good win for us coming off the  win against Zeeland East,” Gifford said.