2010 DISTRICT CHAMPS
Rockford boys execute down stretch, beats Northview for district
title
Jeff Chaney | The Grand Rapids Press
GREENVILLE
-- Matt Karamol knew whose hands the ball should be in with the game
on the line.
The Rockford senior center called a play on the court with less than
30 seconds to play and his team tied with Northview, and the Rockford
coaching staff was good with that.
The play was a back-door screen that would get the ball to junior
guard Ryan Majerle, and it was run to perfection. Karamol delivered
a pass from the elbow and Majerle headed hard to the basket, where
he was fouled with 10 seconds to go.
Majerle then calmly made the two free throws and sent the Rams to
a 44-42 win against Northview on Friday for a Class A district championship.
Rockford advanced to a regional semifinal Monday at Grandville against
Holland, a 70-62 winner against Jenison in another district final.
"We knew that they were going to try and deny (Majerle) the
ball because he is one of our best shooters, so I thought that play
would be there," Karamol said. "And I knew at the end of
the game Ryan is one of our leaders and he shoots about 90 perecent
from the free-throw line, and we have all the confidence in him."
Rockford coach Steve Majerle, whose team has won eight of the past
11 district titles, was thrilled to see his experienced team take
charge when it mattered most.
"Karamol deserves all the credit for that play, he called the
back door screen," Majerle said. "And he made a nice pass
to Ryan, he gets all the credit. This was a good district game, and
it was better for us because we came out on top."
That always didn't appear to be the case. The pesky Wildcats outhustled
Rockford (16-6) a good portion of the game, especially in the first
half and on the boards.
Northview (9-14) outrebounded Rockford 19-8 in the first half and
27-19 for the game, with 12 as offensive rebounds. The Wildcats led
after the first and third quarters.
"You have to give Northview a lot of credit," Steve Majerle
said. "They played a flawless game. It was a physical game,
and in the first half they had something like 10 offensive rebounds.
But we said at halftime that if we are going to lose this game, we
are going to lose it our way."
The Rams picked up their intensity after the half and held off the
upset-minded Wildcats.
"We had too many rules in that first half, we out-coached ourselves," Steve
Majerle said. "In the second half, we decided to go after it."
Going after it is what Northview did from the opening jump ball.
"You have to give the credit to the kids who played, they played
their hearts out," Northview coach Trevor Chalmers said. "They
knew they were up against a good team with a lot of tradition and
they were up to that challenge - they embraced it."
Ryan Majerle led all scorers with 20 points, and Karamol added 11.
Northview sophomore guard Darren Kapustka paced the Wildcats with
18 points, and sophomore guard Kevin Rich had 10.
