Rams 53, Ottawa Hills 55

Ottawa takes out champ Rockford
By Jane Bos / The Grand Rapids Press

Ottawa Hills coach Lee Gilbert searched for just the right words to describe his Indians following their 55-53 regional semifinal victory over defending Class A state champion Rockford Tuesday night. He tried "warriors" and "fighters" and "tough-as-nail kids." Then he settled on this one: "These are guys with a lot of character, period." Trailing Rockford by four points with 1:45 remaining in the contest, Ottawa Hills never gave up, battling back to win at the end. By the time the buzzer sounded, the Indians earned a berth in the regional finals, their first since winning the Class A state title in 1997. Ottawa Hills (19-3), two-time champions of the City League, face Jenison (15-8), which tied for second in the O-K Red Metro, at 7 p.m. Thursday at Zeeland East High School. Jenison edged Grand Haven 48-46 in the other semifinal. Three-time O-K Red Metro champ Rockford ends its season 15-9.

" These guys kept fighting to the end, they never quit, and we beat the defending state champions," Gilbert said. "I am so proud of these kids. They worked to the last second. Now, we have to play Jenison, and they are just like Rockford or anybody else at this point. They are our next opponent, and we have to be ready to play." Tuesday, the Indians were ready enough.

Leading four points with 4:55 left in the game, Ottawa Hills was outscored 10-2 during the next three minutes. Rockford senior three-year starter Michael Redell sank two critical 3-point shots and made both of his free throws during that stretch to help the Rams to a 49-45 lead.

While Redell proceeded to make his next four free-throw attempts, the Indians started scoring again. First Jakari Johnson sank a 3-pointer. Then Corey Edwards executed a three-point play to narrow the score to 53-52 with one minute remaining. With Rockford eating time off the clock, the Indians picked up their defensive pressure, and Edwards made a crucial steal. Then with 32.8 seconds left, Ottawa Hills called a timeout. Senior point guard Nick Nickerson took the ball and drove down the middle of the lane, spinning and scoring. His layup gave Ottawa Hills a 54-53 lead with 23 seconds to go.

The Rams had a last chance, but Redell, an all-stater a year ago, was whistled for an offensive foul - his fifth of the game -- while driving to the basket with 11 seconds on the clock. Rockford immediately fouled Nickerson on the inbound pass, and he made the first of two free throws to seal the win. Rockford's final shot at victory fell short. " I don't think a lot of people gave us a chance against Ottawa Hills, but we hung and we hung and we hung," said Rockford coach Steve Majerle. "We've won all our close games this year, and I thought we had this one salted away with our free throws at the end. We've won all our close games this year, this is the first one we didn't, and a lot of that had to do with their quickness and aggressiveness.

" It was a great game. A call here, a call there, it's a different outcome." Redell, the only starter returning from last year's state championship team, led all scorers with 22 points, while playing on a high ankle sprain suffered two weeks ago. Teammate Mark Russell added 11 points and five assists. Nickerson paced the Indians, who are 11 players deep, with 12 points. Johnson scored 10 points, while Terry Walker added nine points, 10 rebounds and four blocked shots.

" When I came here to coach two years ago, I told the guys we are working to be champs from Day One, that's what you've got to have on your mind, and then you have to work to attain those goals, and we are focused right now," said Gilbert, who won 16 district, nine regional, one state runner-up and two state championships during his 24 years at Muskegon Heights. " It was nice to win them before, but I want another one." Rockford (2003) and Ottawa Hills (1997, '68 and '69) are the only area teams to win Class A state titles since Holland did so in 1945.

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