Worst wears down Rockford in fourth
By Jeff Chaney / The Grand Rapids Press

Travis Worst doesn't mind playing on the road. And the Forest Hills Northern senior forward especially likes playing at Rockford High School. Worst led the Huskies to a 48-42 win Friday at Rockford by scoring a game-high 22 points. The loss was only the second in seven games that the Rams have suffered at home. "I do like to play at Rockford," Worst said. "There is always a good crowd here, and it is a great atmosphere." That was the case Friday with a large crowd cheering on a game that was tight through three quarters.

Rockford took a 32-29 lead into the fourth. That's when the Forest Hills Northern defense toughened up. The Huskies limited the Rams to just 10 points in the fourth quarter, with three of those points coming in the final three seconds when Rockford's Mark Russell hit a 3-pointer with time running out. " It was a big fourth quarter for us," Forest Hills Northern coach Steve Harvey said. "I think our defense wore them down in the fourth quarter. We made them work really hard, and especially on offense."

Worst comes up big in fourth While the Huskies defense was clamping down on Rockford's offense, Worst was scoring 10 of his 22 points in the final eight minutes of the game.

" In that fourth quarter, they had a go-to guy in Worst, and we don't," Rockford coach Steve Majerle said. "He made the difference in the fourth quarter."

The Huskies received production from players other than Worst, as five different players scored in the fourth quarter and Forest Hills Northern connected on 7-of-9 free-throws attempts in the final two minutes to secure the win.

" I was not happy at halftime with some of our decisions, and we talked about that," Harvey said. "I thought Rockford played a great game, and especially on defense. They forced us into some turnovers in the first half. We eliminated our mistakes in the second half, hung tough in the third quarter and played well in the fourth."

In addition to Worst's 22 points, the Huskies received 11 points from Daniel Greenan. The Rams were led by Russell's 11 points. Nick Wendling added 10 for Rockford. " They got easier shots than we did in that fourth quarter," Majerle said. "Some how we need to find a way to get easier baskets."