Rockford wilts under Muskegon's pressure
Thursday, March 06, 2008
By Jeff Chaney
The Grand Rapids Press
GRAND HAVEN -- Rockford boys basketball coach Steve Majerle knew
the high-pressure rally was coming.
Majerle's Rams dictated tempo during the first half in their Class
A regional championship game with Muskegon at Grand Haven High School
on Wednesday night, and took a six-point lead and some confidence
into the break.
It was a different story after halftime,
as the Big Reds ratcheted up the intensity on the defensive end of
the court, which in turn improved Muskegon's offense.
Muskegon outscored
Rockford by 31 points in the second half and won its first regional
title in nine years with a 61-36 victory.
The Big Reds advance to Tuesday's quarterfinal game at Lansing Eastern
where they will play East Lansing.
"We wilted under their pressure," Majerle said. "We
did everything we wanted in the first half, but in the second half
we played not to lose instead of playing to win. Their pressure is
unbelievable, and we needed to attack that pressure, and we didn't
in the second half."
The Rams attacked in the first half, and led after 16 minutes of
play, 24-18.
Defensively, Rockford held Muskegon to 25 percent shooting from
the floor, and 20 percent from behind the 3-point line.
On offense, the Rams were able to break Muskegon's press, find open
shots and play with the lead most of the first half.
"I told the kids at halftime that we weren't playing our type
of basketball," Muskegon coach Bernard Loudermill said. "Rockford
had a lot of open looks in the first half. Once we turned up the
defensive pressure in the second half, that picked up our offensive
transition game."
The Big Reds ended the third quarter on a 17-2 run, and then opened
the fourth quarter on a 11-0 run to put the game away with still
five minutes to play in the game.
In the second half, Muskegon shot 51 percent from the field, 50
percent from the 3-point line and outrebounded the Rams 21-11.
Senior Christopher Crawford scored 10 of his game-high 13 points
in the second half.
Rockford did not have a player score in double figures, and were
led by junior guard Brogan Bibler's nine points.
"We got a lot of easy baskets in the second half, and that
was the difference in the game," Loudermill said. "we played
well on defense tonight."
