Matt Karamol leads Rockford to overtime win against East Grand Rapids
Jane Bos | The Grand Rapids Press
EAST GRAND RAPIDS -- Both teams
shot well. Both got behind and got ahead and lost the lead again.
Both had star players do their thing.
Both had other players step up.
The Rockford and East Grand Rapids boys basketball teams crammed
just about everything possible -- even overtime -- into their season
opener Friday.
Thing is, both couldn't win. That honor went to Rockford.
Behind senior Matt Karamol, a senior who's been hampered by injury
and illness the past two seasons, the Rams made the final rally to
emerge with a 76-72 overtime victory at East Grand Rapids.
With Rockford trailing 62-56 with 3:30 left in regulation, the 6-foot-4
Karamol scored six consecutive points to knot the score and send
the game to overtime. He added two more of his team-high 23 points
in the final 4 minutes to help secure the win.
"We knew it would be a tough game coming in," said Karamol,
who also grabbed nine rebounds. "They are a really good team,
but we were ready at the end. We weren't nervous. We practice every
day being in those types of situations."
Paid off.
It did for junior guard Ryan Majerle, who connected on all four
of his free throws in the final minute of overtime -- after missing
his first free throw, he sank his final 12 attempts of the game --
to add to his 22-point total.
It did for Justin Klein, a quick, high-leaping sophomore who totaled
10 points and three assists.
It did for Robert Pierson, a senior who scored 10 points, and it
did for senior Jacob Green, who totaled 10 rebounds and three blocked
shots.
"It was a really up and down game, and to come into East and
win this game, I'll tell you what, is pretty nice," Rockford
coach Steve Majerle said. "I am very happy with our guys being
down six and coming back. Matt Karamol really stepped up and did
a wonderful job for us."
Karamol had added pressure taking on EGR senior Colin Voss.
The 6-8 center, who signed to play at Central Michigan, finished
with 29 points, 13 rebounds, two assists and four blocked shots.
Voss also was a key two-way player for the Pioneers' football team,
which went unbeaten to win the state championship. Because of the
run, 8-of-11 players on East Grand Rapids' basketball team had six
days of practice before the opener.
"I thought our guys had great effort," Pioneers coach
Jared Redell said. "They were a couple plays away. The biggest
thing is, we have to finish those games regardless of the number
of practices or injuries. We have got to win those games."
The Pioneers started out like they would. They led 19-15 after the
first quarter, and they stayed on top until Ryan Majerle made two
free throws 2 minutes into the second quarter to give the Rams a
23-22 lead.
The lead changed five times before Rockford led 34-33 at halftime
and 50-47 entering the fourth quarter.
Voss and teammate Kyree Holman scored six points each to help rally
the Pioneers to a 62-56 lead late in regulation.
But free-throw shooting down the stretch hurt EGR, whicm made 4-of-12
attempts in the fourth quarter and overtime. Rockford, meanwhile,
converted on 11-of-12 attempts down the stretch.
The Rams made 27-of-31 free throws in the game.
"We knew they would shoot the ball extremely well, we knew
about most of their guys," Redell said. "We really didn't
know about Karamol. We knew he was a garbage guy -- he would get
a lot of rebounds -- we didn't realize he would make jump shots like
he did, that he could drive like that. He was the difference tonight."
