Rockford rolls behind Redell's 30
By Steve Vedder / The Grand Rapids Press

Playing in spacious arenas brings out the best in Rockford's basketball team.

As proof, take Monday's impressive showing at Van Andel Arena against Grandville. Playing at a large venue for the first time since last year's state final, the Rams put together three of their better quarters of the season to win 70-41. While it's a much different club than last year's Class A state champ, the ability to win in front of large crowds at imposing arenas hasn't deserted the Rams. The two games in Monday's Pepsi Jam at the Van drew 3,100.

" Maybe we're not as wide-eyed as others," said Rockford coach Steve Majerle, whose team (7-4, 5-1 O-K Red Metro) has won 36 of its last 37 league games. " To play in this venue with the (pre-game) light show and video, that's the experience you love to give to the kids."

Rockford survived a third quarter in which the Rams went scoreless for nearly five minutes and managed just two points in the quarter's first 6:20. But the Rams had built a 37-12 lead in the last minute of the second quarter and never let the Bulldogs get closer than 39-23 with 2:42 left in the third period. The Rams shot 46 percent (26 of 56) from the floor, hitting 12 of 29 3-pointers. Rockford's Michael Redell made eight of those 3-pointers and finished with 30 points, six rebounds, six assists and four steals. The senior guard said playing at Van Andel Arena reminded him of last year's state final at the Breslin Center.

" Obviously there are differences between the regular season and the tournament, but with the big crowd, it definitely brings back last year's memories," Redell said. Grandville coach Dan Remenap said the combination of Redell, 22 turnovers, just a 32-31 rebounding edge despite a much larger front line and an inconsistent offense did in the Bulldogs. " Right now we're struggling with both ends of the court," he said. "We didn't execute our offensive set once from beginning to end. But credit Rockford's defense, too. We can't imitate that in practice. We try but we can't. Couple that with Redell -- he's owned us since his freshman year at West Ottawa -- and it's easy to see why this was ugly."

Ryan DeHaan added 14 points and Nick Wendling 13 for Rockford. David Thompson led Grandville with 19 points, nine rebounds and three steals.