Rockford keeps focus to down FH Northern

By Jeff Chaney / The Grand Rapids Press

ROCKFORD -- Rockford boys basketball coach Steve Majerle had a little apprehension heading into Tuesday's game with visiting Forest Hills Northern.

He was worried about his team's focus considering the Rams are hosting league-leading Jenison in an O-K Red Conference battle Friday night.

His worries were put to rest early, as Rockford came out and played strong defense and built a comfortable lead by halftime and cruised to 50-39 win.

Now Majerle and his Rams can concentrate on Friday's game with the Wildcats, who have a one-game lead over Rockford in the conference standings.

"Friday is the biggest game of the year for us, and that is why I was worried about tonight," said Majerle, whose team improved to 12-2. "We didn't come out with a lot of energy on offense tonight, but we played defense well, and that has been a staple for us all year."

Rockford was sluggish on the offensive end, but they held Forest Hills Northern to just 23-percent shooting from the field in the first half and built a 27-12 lead by the break.

It was a typical first half for Rockford.

"We are not pretty to watch, we are not that type of team, but we are big and strong and we defend well from the 3-point line in," Majerle said. "They are young, and I just thought we out-manned them physically."

Forest Hills Northern coach Steve Harvey agreed.

"They are too big and strong," said Harvey, whose team fell to 8-7. "And when you give up 15 offensive rebounds, you can't do that against a team like Rockford."

Forest Hills Northern was without center Matt Lang, who is out with a broken foot he suffered in practice a week ago.

That allowed Rockford center Mitch Briggs to score a game-high 18 points and grab a game-high nine rebounds.

Forest Hills Northern made a run at the Rams late, cutting a lead that was around 20 points most of the game down to seven late in the fourth quarter.

But it was too little, too late for the Huskies.

"We put some guys in at the end that did a great job," Harvey said. "I was very proud of their effort."

Javontae Ford led Forest Hills Northern in scoring with eight points.