Rockford tops West Ottawa, breaks 3 point record
Steve Vedder / Grand Rapids Press

In a season when Rockford's basketball team faces a multitude of tough questions, the Rams answered a big one Tuesday night against West Ottawa. Rockford learned it can bounce back from a rare loss.

The Rams broke the school record for 3-pointers en route to a 70-60 victory against West Ottawa in a final tuneup before the O-K Red Metro season opener Friday.

The non-league victory was more important than most for Rockford (2-1), which had its 29-game winning streak snapped by Grand Ledge last Friday.

Coach Steve Majerle, whose last two teams won 50 of 51 games, said he wanted to see the Rams improve their 21 percent field goal shooting against Grand Ledge. Rockford accomplished that by hitting 11 first-half 3-pointers and 13 for the game, and by hitting 50 percent (24 of 48) from the field.

" We played well at Grand Ledge, we just didn't shoot well," Majerle said. "These are pretty confident kids who have put a lot of time in the gym. Part of (3-pointers) is us not having a lot of choice. You've got to let them go."

Rockford has to rely on perimeter shooting because it starts a team that averages less than 6-foot-2. The Rams rode their torrid shooting to a 24-12 first-quarter lead and a 47-30 halftime edge.

Rockford extended the lead to 60-38 with 1:21 left in the third quarter. West Ottawa coach Von Washington said it wasn't necessarily poor defense that led to Rockford breaking the school record of 12 3-pointers set Jan. 10 against Grandville. Senior guard Mike Redell, who set a Rams mark with 10 3-pointers in that game, had eight against West Ottawa, including seven in the first half.

" It's a credit to them," Washington said. "They shot well and Redell is a tremendous player. They were shooting over our outstretched arms all night and he was shooting professional 3-pointers." Redell, who hit 8 of 11 3-point attempts, finished with 26 points. He added four rebounds and four assists. Kyle Mahoney added 10 points for Rockford. Majerle said there's little doubt in his mind how good of a 3-point shooting team Rockford can be.

" It would be something different if we had a 6-9 post player, then we'd think twice about shooting 3-pointers," he said. "I think we can be as good if not better (shooters) than last year. We have that ability. And we have more depth in shooting. We had six seniors who could shoot at crunch time last year."

West Ottawa outrebounded Rockford 29-26. Zach Osburn led the Panthers with 19 points and Leonard Houston added 11. Washington also was pleased that West Ottawa outscored Rockford 30-23 in the second half, the third straight time the Panthers have outscored an opponent in the final two quarters this season. " It's a positive when we put it all together, but we need to put it together," he said. "We can't dig ourselves a hole like we did."