Briggs comes up big for Rockford
By Greg Johnson / The Grand Rapids Press

GREENVILLE -- Rockford's Mitchell Briggs had a first quarter to remember against the school where his father, Alex, once was a standout.

The Rockford junior post player with long-range shooting ability fired in five 3-point shots in the first quarter to power the Rams past Greenville 62-53 in a Class A district final Friday night.

The Rams, who won the sixth district title for their school in the past eight years, ended up needing all of Briggs' early outburst to help hold off the determined host Yellow Jackets.

"I'm so happy for Mitchell Briggs, having a game like that where his dad used to play," Rockford coach Steve Majerle said. "The other night he had one of his worst games out here, but tonight he just stepped out, hit the shots and played great."

Briggs finished with 25 points and five rebounds and will lead the Rams (17-5) into regional play Wednesday at Jenison against Mona Shores (15-8).

Lead swelled to 16 points

Briggs didn't make a 3-point shot after the first quarter, but the damage he inflicted early weighed on Greenville. The Yellow Jackets managed to trim an early 16-point deficit to five points with 47 seconds remaining, but Matt Dehart's 3-point shot that would have made it a two-point game rimmed out.

"Heck, it rimmed out, or we were right there," Greenville coach Mark Haist said. "My kids were awesome coming back like that. We expected their post guys to hurt us, but we didn't expect Briggs to step out and shoot like that. He just didn't miss, and that was tough to overcome."

Tyler Bigelow led Greenville's charge with 25 points, including 19 in the second-half rally. Joe Fox added 11.

Majerle said the Rams winning the district title was the culmination of dramatic improvement during the season.

"The progress they've made from game one to game 22 is as big as any team I've had," he said. "Greenville's a good team, a talented team, and we wouldn't have been able to hold off that rally early in the year. We did it tonight with the kids making good decisions, staying patient and making the free throws.

"This is a great group of kids, and a district title is a nice accomplishment for them."