Rockford wins, looks forward to Red showdown
By Jane Bos/ The Grand Rapids Press

HUDSONVILLE -- Bryan Pasciak, the Rockford guard of the spin moves and the big smile, had not yet finished sweating after his team's last game of the year before talking about the first big game next year.
The Rams edged Hudsonville, 44-39, Thursday night to stay unbeaten atop the O-K Red Conference.
And after a two-week layoff, they tip off 2007 with a game at Jenison, the other unbeaten team they are tied with in the O-K Red. Of course, Jenison needs a win over visiting Grandville tonight to ensure the showdown.

Wonder what Rockford wants for Christmas

" This win is good, we have to keep pace with Jenison," said Pasciak, who led the Rams with 18 points, six rebounds and three steals. "We have spent a lot of time in the gym, we have played basketball our whole lives. We are just going to keep working. There are 10 more games left in the conference, so anything can happen."

Lots of things happened for Rockford, 4-1 overall and 4-0 in the O-K Red, on Thursday. The Rams led 7-0 early, they trailed 18-16 late in the second quarter, they led by as many as 11 points in the third quarter and by as few as one point (40-39) late in the game.

They held on long enough.

" Last year, we lost the tight games, this year, we are winning them so far," Rockford coach Steve Majerle said. "It's not pretty, we are just finding ways to win. The difference is we have eight seniors on the team. Last year, we beat some good teams, then it kind of snowballed on us, and we let teams back in down the stretch."

Hudsonville (3-3, 2-2) is coming up just short in those big games this year. On Tuesday, they took Jenison into double overtime before losing 75-71. With one-day rest, the Eagles gave Rockford a good game, too. " We did not play with the energy we wanted to," Hudsonville coach Gary Immink said. "We like to think they are kids, and they can go forever, I don't know, but Rockford deserves credit. I am pleased with my team's comeback, that is a good thing, we just need to keep it going."

Maybe the Eagles did run out of gas. But Rockford kept it close by missing free throws in the fourth quarter. In the final 3:47 of the game, the Rams missed the front-end of two one-and-one situations, but they did make 4-of-6 in the final 18 seconds. They did enough to win. Pasciak led Rockford, he got help from junior Mitchell Briggs with 13 points and nine rebounds.

Dominic Allen paced Hudsonville with 19 points and three steals. No other Eagle reached double figures. " Give Hudsonville credit, they took Jenison to double overtime Tuesday, and they played well tonight," Majerle said. "Bryan just had one of his better games. We expect big things out of him. He has such a passion for the game. Sometimes it gets in his way a little bit ... but he did great tonight. This is a huge win, coming into Hudsonville and getting this win."

Now all they want for Christmas is a similar experience at Jenison