GRAND LEDGE - Grand Ledge senior center Al Horford was absolutely dominating in the second half of the Comets game against Rockford on Friday night.

But trailing by one point in the final seconds of overtime, Grand Ledge turned to a player who had made just one shot all night.

Senior guard Eric Toomey delivered with a leaning bank shot and, with two seconds left, lifted Grand Ledge to a 53-52 victory and handed the defending Class A state champs their first loss since the 2001-02 season.

''There were a couple shots that Eric missed earlier that weren't nearly as tough as that last one,'' Grand Ledge coach Tony Sweet said. ''Eric's a senior and has waited his turn to get an opportunity to play. We have confidence in all our guys, and I had no doubt that Eric could make a play for us.''

Toomey hit the game-winner, but it was Horford's 22 points and 16 rebounds in the second half that helped erase a 12-point halftime deficit and give Grand Ledge (2-0) a chance to win.

''Coach told me at halftime that I had to step it up and get every rebound,'' said Horford, who finished with 28 points and 23 rebounds and played all but 2.7 seconds of the game.

''I think some of the guys were kind of nervous in the first half because it was Rockford, but we told ourselves that we had a great shot to win the game," he said.

Horford was held scoreless in the second quarter and had just six points at halftime as Grand Ledge trailed 27-15.

Then he took over, scoring 11 points in the third as Grand Ledge cut the lead to 37-33 after three quarters.

Sophomore guard Kevin Kramer had a steal on Rockford's first two possessions of the fourth quarter, one leading to a dunk by Horford and the other leading to a 3-pointer by Kramer that gave Grand Ledge a 38-37 lead. It was the Comets' first lead since 8-6 in the first quarter.

''Kevin gave us a great spark plug and made a couple 3's for us,'' Sweet said. ''But it wasn't just offensively. His defense was great, too.''

The Comets seemed to have the game in hand as they held Rockford scoreless for the first 6:35 of the fourth quarter with a 44-37 lead.

But Grand Ledge turned the ball over on consecutive possessions, and Rockford senior guard Michael Redell scored four straight points.

Redell led the Rams with 18 points.

After Horford missed the front end of a one-and-one, Ram junior guard Mark Russell hit a 3-pointer with 18 seconds left in regulation to tie the game.

Horford scored Grand Ledge's first seven points in overtime, but neither team led by more than two points in overtime.