Rockford Rams 60 Greenville Yellow Jackets 45

Defense leads Rockford to district crown
By Matt Vande Bunte / The Grand Rapids Press

GRAND RAPIDS -- Gabe Vanderjagt was on the team last year when Rockford won a boys basketball district title. Friday, he was all over the floor as the Rams claimed another trophy.

The junior guard had a game-high 22 points, three steals and two blocks to lead a "nasty" second-half defense that broke open a tight Class A district final at Northview High School.

Rockford never trailed in beating Greenville 60-45 for its third consecutive district crown and seventh in nine years.

Rockford (13-9) advances to regional play Monday at Grand Haven.

"Last year, I didn't play much because we had so many seniors," Vanderjagt said. "Now that I'm on the court, it's a totally different experience."

The Rams, who had a 3-point halftime lead, knocked Greenville off-balance with full-court pressure and built a 38-24 lead late in the third quarter.

"Coach had us regroup. He said the reason the game was so close was we weren't getting any stops on defense," Vanderjagt said. "We just turned up the defensive pressure and got a couple turnovers and kind of turned the game around."

Rockford led 16-5, before Greenville put together a 7-0 run in the second quarter. A 3-pointer by junior Mitch Barker tied the game at 20 with 2:16 left in the half. Moments later, senior Josh Ledezma's basket was waived off on a charging foul.

Greenville (8-15) never had a shot at the lead again.

"We felt like we were in attack mode in the second quarter, which had them on their heels," Greenville coach Mark Haist said. "But when they came out in that full-court, more-intense press, it got us second-guessing some things and definitely got us out of our rhythm."

Barker led Greenville with 16 points on 5-of-8 shooting. Rockford senior Mitch Briggs scored 19 points to surpass 1,000 for his career, pushing him past Mike Redell into fourth place on the school's all-time list.

Briggs also had 12 rebounds and blocked three shots to support a Rockford backcourt that had nine steals and forced 12 turnovers.

"We're better with those three little guards running up and down the floor," Rockford coach Steve Majerle said. "They're nasty. They're like a mosquito at night and you can't find 'em, but they're always bugging you."