Late in the game -- after Forest Hills Northern squandered a large lead to Rockford and scrambled to stay on top by two points -- Huskies senior Tyler Rader picked a great time to pull himself all the way out of a playing slump.

The senior scored six straight points in the final 27 seconds. And his heroics helped Forest Hills Northern post a dramatic 57-52 O-K Red Metro Conference victory over the two-time defending Red champion Rams. The victory, the Huskies first over Rockford since winning the 1999 Class A district championship, keeps the two teams tied atop the conference with 5-2 marks. " Oh, yeah, this means a lot to us," said Rader, who totaled 16 points, including nine in a critical fourth-quarter effort. "We're tied for first in the conference. We have to stay on top and keep playing well."

And just to make sure the Huskies understood that, Rockford coach Steve Majerle had a message for their players -- and coach Steve Harvey -- as they walked in and out of the locker room after the game. " First one to stumble," Majerle said. "We're tied for first. First one to stumble." Be certain the Huskies realize that.

" Rockford pretty much knocks us out of the tournament every year," Harvey said. "They have a tremendous tradition and one of the best, if not the best, coaches in the area, and they have one of the best, if not the best, players in the area in Michael Redell. " We have so much respect for them. We use them as a measuring stick every year to see where we are." After losing 62-58 to Rockford on Dec. 19, the measuring kept getting closer as the Huskies went on a seven-game winning streak. Then on Tuesday, they played flat and were upset 64-58 by Hudsonville.

" That was a really disappointing loss, we were on a roll, and we walked in there and forgot what makes us good, hustling and getting after the ball," Harvey said. "Tonight, we got back to that. We got rattled for a little bit at the end, but we called a time out, talked about regaining our composure, and we did it." The Rams, and Redell in particular, can rattle anyone.
Trailing 49-36 with 4:22 left in the game, Rockford went on an 11-0 run. Meanwhile, the Huskies missed three shots and turned the ball over twice, and the lead dwindled to 49-47 with 1:40 to go.

With 43 seconds on the clock, Northern's lead was 51-49.
All that remained were Rader's six straight points, including four consecutive free throws in the final 8.9 seconds. Redell, who scored a game-high 28 points, also sank all three of his free-throw attempts with 4.7 seconds left, narrowing the score to 55-52, but it wasn't enough.

" We need to play that way from the get-go," Majerle said of his team's fourth-quarter showing. "With our lack of height, we have to be that aggressive the whole game. That's what we should have done from the beginning. It's a learning process for us." Redell is the lone returning starter from last year's Class A state championship team. In the preseason, he committed to Cleveland State. Friday, he proved he belongs at the Division-I level, scoring 20 points in the second half.

" Did he get hot or what? Holy cow," Harvey said of Redell. "He hit some ungodly shots. He had 28 points, and he had to work for them all." No other Rams player reached double figures.
But Rader got plenty of help from his teammates. Travis Worst led the winners with 17 points and six rebounds as eight Northern players scored.