Rockford Rams 53, Jenison Wildcats 61

Jenison keeps its guard up
By Jane Bos / The Grand Rapids Press

JENISON -- Jenison needed a bit of everything to get by Rockford: tough play from its two standout guards everyone's talking about and extra tough play from its other guard. Bet folks start talking about that other guard now, too. Senior Michael Vaughan gave the Wildcats that extra boost Friday, helping Jenison stay unbeaten with a 61-53 OK Red Conference victory against tenacious Rockford before a loud crowd of about 3,000.

Of course, a critical 16-0 run in the second quarter, making more free throws (24) than Rockford attempted (10) and outrebounding the Rams 34-14 also helped Jenison improve to 8-0 overall and 5-0 in the Red. " With Jenison, it's choose your poison, and I thought we did a pretty good job," said Rockford coach Steve Majerle, whose team is 4-2 and 4-1. "Ty Tanis and Wes Trammell are pretty good, but Vaughan just made some biggies. That was the key in keeping us four points away. Every time we got close, that sucker went down the lane and threw one in."
Vaughan, who scored 13 points, including the first six for the Wildcats in the fourth quarter, got plenty of help from the team's two biggies. Tanis, a senior, totaled 23 points and Trammell, a junior, scored 14.

" Rockford is good, and they did a nice job on Wes and Ty," Vaughan said. "My shots were falling. It was nice that our guys trusted me to take it to the rack." There seemed to be plenty of trust going around, especially in the second quarter. Trailing 10-5 early in the quarter, the Wildcats went on a 16-0 run to take the lead for good. During that five-minute span, Rockford missed all nine of its shots and made six turnovers.

While the Rams battled back to within 34-32 late in the third quarter and 47-45 with three minutes left in the game, they never got closer. Jenison made all eight of its free-throw attempts down the stretch to seal the win. In all, the Wildcats made 24-of-30 free throws, while the Rams were 7-for-10 from the line.

Patience pays off

" We really wanted to get to the line, and we did a good job of that," Jenison coach Brett Dyke said. "We shoot 83 percent as a team, and that's pretty good. Rockford is a good team, they did a nice job defensively, but I think we finally settled down and started taking some better shots. We were more patient."

The Rams did better, too, after their scoreless spell in the second quarter. Behind 12 points by Mitch Briggs and nine points each from Lukas Gladstone, Jake Steinebach and Brogan Bibler, they rallied. It just was never enough.
" You just cannot play from behind against this team," Majerle said. "They are too smart and they hit free throws." They were too much Friday. " This win really means a lot to us," said Tanis, who also grabbed seven rebounds. "Rockford came out really strong, and we knew they would. This win was a real confidence booster to us."