For short a time in the second quarter, it looked like Grand Rapids Christian would make a run at beating the unbeatable Rockford.

But it was short lived.

Rockford, the defending Class A state champs who went 28-0 last season, rolled to a 62-47 win over the Eagles in the season opener for both teams.

Steve Majerle's Rams led 19-14 in the second quarter, but Brent Heemskerk, Christian's 6-foot-8 center, was having his way inside. Heemskerk's tip-in at the 6:06 mark made it a 19-16 game, and it looked as if things were going to get interesting.

And then Rockford's Michael Redell, who led all scorers with 27 points, took over. Redell scored 13 points in the next 2:29 -- knocking down three 3-pointers in the process -- to extend the Rams' lead to 35-19.

"Mike always had the ability to do that," Majerle said. "But he had such a strong group surrounding him last year that he didn't have to. This year we need points from him. He's very unselfish, he likes to dish off, but his orders are to shoot. When he's hot, he is difficult to contain."

"That stretch was the killer," Christian coach Tom VanderLaan agreed. "Once they opened that gap, we really couldn't cut into it. We'd get it down to 11 or 12, and they'd knock down another three. That is a very good basketball team.

"We just couldn't recover from the way they took it to us in the second quarter."

The Rams have a four-guard, one-forward lineup. Their tallest starter was 6-3 Ryan DeHaan.

"I had a team like this back in 2000, and we made it to the Final Four," Majerle said. "Sometimes it's frustrating, especially when you go up against a tall team. But sometimes it's fun to watch a team like this scramble and shoot the three."

Paced by Redell's outburst, Rockford outscored Christian 20-7 in the second quarter, and led 37-21 at halftime.

Heemskerk, who led Christian with 19 points, is a load inside. But he is agile enough to play on the perimeter, and has the quickness to bring the ball up the court against the press.

"He can run with anybody," VanderLaan said. "Those who were here saw a very good player. Everybody else doesn't realize just how talented he is, but they will."

"I thought we did a good job on him considering he's 6-8 and we were guarding him with 6-1 kids," Majerle said. "But there's no way you are going to keep him wrapped up. We tried to surround him and pressure the guards so they wouldn't get a good look inside. Once the ball went under, he was tough to deal with."

Grand Rapids Christian outscored Rockford 14-11 in the third quarter, but by the final three minutes, both benches were cleared.

The game ended in fitting fashion. Rockford had nine 3-pointers, Kyle Mahoney put the cap on the scoring with a trey with eight seconds left.

"I thought it was a great opener," VanderLaan said. "We go to South Christian on Friday for another tough game. We don't want it any other way. We will play the best teams we can find and see what we can do."

"I think we were a little nervous, this being the first game," Majerle said. "We have more than one good shooter. Plus, if the three's don't fall, I know I can count on our defense.

"It was a good start, but we will get better as the year goes on."