FHC edges Rockford to clinch Metro title
By Kelly Hill / The Grand Rapids Press

ROCKFORD -- The outcome was almost predictable. Forest Hills Central had won every close game it had played this season, while Rockford had lost several times in the final moments.

The Rangers won another close game Tuesday night, and the Rams lost another one, as Forest Hills Central beat Rockford 47-44. The victory clinched the O-K Red Metro championship for FH Central, which is 11-0 in the league and 16-1 overall. The victory also was FHC's first at Rockford in at least eight years.

Forest Hills Central scored the game's first seven points, but then surrendered 10 straight and trailed the Rams until late in the third quarter. The 3-point margin of victory was FHC's largest of the game, after the first four minutes.

The Rangers outscored the Rams 8-1 in the game's last four minutes. " Maybe we guarded better the last five minutes, but maybe they finally started missing some shots," said FHC coach Ken George. "I thought they shot the ball extremely well all night. If the shot was open it went in. They always shoot well, but that's Rockford basketball." Rockford did not score a point in the game's last three minutes.

" This was just another great game in a long string of great games with Rockford," George said. "Everyone gets their $5 worth, that's for sure. This sport is pretty simple, really. Down the stretch, the team that makes the crucial plays is going to win. We have had a ton of games decided in the last three minutes this year, but if I knew why we have been winning at the end of games, I would have started doing that five years ago. We just have a group of veteran guys who know how to win down the stretch."
Conversely, the Rams have lost often down the stretch.
" The last five minutes is probably the story of our season," said Rockford coach Steve Majerle, whose Rams are now 4-7 in the conference and 8-9 overall. "We have played well until the end of games, but then the other team imposes their will on us. They stepped up their defense and we didn't get the shot when we needed it.
" It is probably a mental thing for us now," Majerle said. "It has happened to us four or five times now, faltering at the end of a game. Instead of playing to win, we are playing not to lose."

The defense of seniors Mark Bossuah and Joe Cibulka effectively contained the outside shooting of Rams junior Nick Wendling and senior Mark Russell, respectively. Wendling, who is Rockford's leading scorer this season, finished the game with 11 points, while Russell, who hit three 3-pointers in the first half, did not have a field goal in the second half and finished with 12 points.

" Everything for us comes from the perimeter," Majerle said. "They made an adjustment and stopped that."
The Lettinga brothers, seniors Mark and Luke, led Forest Hills Central with 16 and 15 points, respectively.

FHC is slated to play Mona Shores in a crossover game Thursday night, while Rockford is slated to play at East Kentwood Friday night.