Rams 62, Greenville 59 (overtime)

Lowell, Rockford earn overtime wins
By Steve Ungrey / The Grand Rapids Press

There must be something in the Rockford water that makes basketball games go into overtime.

Rockford's Mark Russell and Lowell's Andrew Min made overtime their prime time.

Each helped lift his team into Friday's Class A district final.

Russell's 3-pointer with 2.5 seconds remaining in overtime guided the Rams to a 62-59 victory over Greenville.

Min's two free throws capped a come-from-behind, double-overtime 56-55 thriller against Creston.

Lowell (13-8), which most recently posted a winning season in 1986-87, takes on Rockford (14-8) at 7 p.m. Friday.

Min, a 6-foot-1 senior forward, split his free throws in two previous trips to the line, so he was apprehensive when he stepped to the foul line in the second overtime.

He sank the first, tying the game at 55 Creston coach Bennette Gay called a timeout in an attempt to ice Min's shot.

Once back at the line, Min sank the second free throw.

"I was more than a little nervous," Min said. "The coaches told me I'd be all right. They're the ones that worked with me to improve my free-throw shooting. So I went back to the line and shot the second one with confidence."

Once the final buzzer sounded, fans mobbed Min and his teammates on the court, celebrating Lowell's first trip to the district finals since 1984.

"If we don't ever come down I'll be okay," Lowell coach Jeff McDonald said. "We're gonna enjoy the heck out of this one. We've talked about our motto being 'don't stop believing in yourself.' We put every single ounce of effort into our games, do the things that don't take talent. Hustling, boxing out, diving on the floor, that's what it takes."

Lowell erased an 11-point second-half deficit, setting up Min's heroics.

"This is a kid who plays his butt off, and he came in on a Sunday and said I want to work on my free throws," McDonald said.

Lowell senior guard Sam Oberlin led the Red Arrows with 27 points, with 18 of those coming in the second half and the two overtimes.

Cameron Bradfield paced Creston (16-6) with 24 points and seven rebounds, before fouling out of the game in the second overtime. Creston had won in triple overtime two nights earlier.

In the first game, Greenville (8-13) led 39-31 with 51 seconds left in the third quarter, only to see Rockford erase that margin with an 11-0 run.

Rockford sophomore guard Nick Wendling displayed his perimeter touch in the fourth quarter, draining all three of his 3-pointers on the way to a 15-point night.

A three-point play by Greenville's Ryan Bigelow forced overtime at 53-53, and it looked like the teams were headed for a second extra session until Russell's 3-pointer from the top of the key clinched the win.

"Coach (Steve Majerle) has the confidence to put the ball in my hands, and I was just excited when I saw it go in," Russell said. "We were struggling for the win, but we're still alive."

Majerle made a decision to sit senior Michael Redell, who was nursing an ankle injury. Redell came into the game in the third quarter and finished with three points and three assists, providing a spark off the bench.

"I made the decision to sit Michael and it almost backfired on me, but we're still alive. That's the main thing," Majerle said. "Greenville played as well as it could against us, we had trouble converting on our first few possessions."

Greenville came close to pulling off the double upset, but the Yellowjackets fell a couple seconds short.

"To come play the defending Class A state champions as tough as we did was something," Greenville coach Rick Lewis said. "Yes, we made some mistakes but the kids overcame them for the most part. Steve does a great job. He's a good coach in a good program."

Bobby Brown scored 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for Greenville, and Justin Ray contributed 17 points and 12 boards.

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