Creston edges FHN in triple OT; Rockford nips FHC
By Jane Bos / The Grand Rapids Press

When Rockford coach Steve Majerle warbled the opening lines of the Bee Gees' 1970's hit "Stayin' Alive" after his team's district-opening victory Monday night, it bordered on prophetic.

See, the nightcap of the Class A double-header at Rockford went into triple overtime. And Creston stayed alive, edging Forest Hills Northern 70-69 to advance to Wednesday's semifinal against Lowell.

Rockford stayed alive, too, taking a step toward defending its Class A title, with a 48-47 win over Forest Hills Central. The Rams (13-8) take on Greenville in the Wednesday's other semifinal.

"It looked like we were dead a couple times, but these guys showed a lot of heart," Creston coach Bennette Gay said. "We haven't won a district game in a long time, and we had to go out and fight."

Creston (16-5) fought hard, rallying and scoring near buzzer-beaters in all three overtimes.

There were many critical, head-shaking plays in the game, but the most astonishing came at the end of the first overtime. With Forest Hills Northern leading 58-54 with 19.3 seconds left, the Polar Bears took a timeout, regrouped and scored with eight seconds left.

Then senior L.J. Kilgore stole the Huskies' inbound pass and scored, knotting the score at 58-58. Northern had 1.3 seconds to win, but failed to convert.

Creston also rallied in the second overtime. Sophomore Jovonne Augustus scored with 2.4 seconds left, tying the game at 64-64.

With 10 seconds left in the third overtime, the Huskies' Travis Worst scored to give his team a 69-68 lead. As time was running out, a Creston shot went awry. Cameron Bradfield grabbed the offensive rebound and scored the winning basket as time ran out.

Kilgore led all scorers with 26 points. Bradfield added 20 points and 13 rebounds, while Tony Smith had 11 points.

Forest Hills Northern was led by Tyler Rader with 22 points and seven rebounds. Worst tossed in 19 points, and Dan Greenen added 10.

"We had our chances, that would be a mild understatement," said FHN coach Steve Harvey, whose team ends its season 14-7. "No one wants to win more than our guys, and we didn't. I thought we deserved to win. Ultimately, we had to make the plays, and we didn't."

In Monday's opener, Rockford made the necessary plays to advance against Forest Hills Central (12-9). It didn't hurt that the Rangers 6-foot-7 junior twins -- Luke and Mark Lettinga -- were often on the bench in foul trouble.

Trailing 25-21 at halftime, the Rams earned a 34-32 lead entering the fourth quarter. Rockford took over the lead for good, 38-36, moments after Luke Lettinga fouled out with 5:35 left in the game.

By the time Mark Lettinga was whistled for his fifth foul with 1:10 to go, Rockford was on top 45-40.

The Rams' senior star, Michael Redell, sank 3 of 4 free throws in the final 14 seconds to help seal the victory. Redell, who has not played for two weeks after suffering a high ankle injury, did not play at full speed.

Michael Steinebach led the Rams with 13 points, while Redell and Nicholas Wendling added 10 points each.

"Before our game, we all sang our theme song ('Stayin' Alive'), and told the kids they had to find a way to win," said Majerle, whose O-K Red Metro championship team split with FHC during the season. "They found a way to win tonight. It was not a pretty game, but we don't play pretty very often."

Forest Hills Central, which lost a thriller to Rockford in last year's district final also at Rockford, was paced by Mark Lettinga with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Kyle Behm added 11 points.

"Our two studs are on the bench for most of the fourth quarter, and that put us in a really tough position," said FHC coach Ken George. "The home court in our league is worth eight to 10 points, and this is a tough place to play. I think that our guys played really hard, there was lots of physical, aggressive play, and (Rockford) got the ones at the end."

The Rangers played without starting point guard Pat Radde, who sprained his ankle a week ago.