Rockford boys ease past Holland to set up regional showdown with
Grand Haven
Cris Greer | The Grand Rapids Press, March 16, 2010 12:16 a.m.
GRANDVILLE -- Rockford drilled seven first-half 3-pointers to build
a comfortable lead en route to a 58-46 win against Holland in a
Class A regional opener Monday at Grandville.
Leading 19-18 in the second quarter, the Rams went on a 13-0 run
to grab a commanding 32-18 margin.
"That's our strength," Rockford coach Steve Majerle said
of his team's 3-point shooting. "We have about four, five,
six kids that can shoot it. When we shoot like that, we're tough
to beat. When we don't shoot like that, we have to depend on our
defense.
"Our defense was not stellar tonight, but our shooting was."
The win pits Rockford (17-5) against Grand Haven in a regional
final at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Grandville. The Bucs knocked off Traverse
City West 40-31 in their regional contest Monday at Traverse City
Central.
The regional championship will be the rubber game for a pair of
teams that split their first two matchups en route to sharing the
OK Red Conference championship. The game also will be a rematch
of last year's regional final, which Rockford won 63-60.
"It's starting to become quite a rivalry," Majerle said. "(This
season) we prevailed at our place, they prevailed at their place.
It's at a neutral court, so let the best team win."
Rockford sophomore Justin Klein scored eight of his team's 24 points
in the second quarter to help the Rams take a 35-22 halftime lead
against Holland (15-8).
"Klein is capable of doing that," Majerle said. "We
needed him to step up and he did."
Holland standout center Josh Weatherspoon went to the bench early
with foul trouble.
"I know Josh sat too long in the second quarter," Holland
coach Steve Windemuller said. "And Rockford having three fouls
in the first half is a Rockford record. I don't know if that's possible,
the style they play. I thought foul trouble was the difference.
"We just missed some shots that you normally should make if
you want to make a run. Every time we made a little run, they were
able to answer us, so give them some credit."
With little more than 6 minutes left, Holland's Morris Sallis blocked
a shot, then scored to cut Rockford's lead to 43-37.
But the Rams' Ryan Majerle responded with two free throws and another
3-pointer to put the game out of reach.
"We did enough to get it done," Steve Majerle said. "We
did a nice job on their shooters, we didn't let them get their 3s.
Holland's been playing very well, so I'm very happy with the way
we played."
Matt Karamol and Majerle led the Rams with 13 points apiece, and
Klein added 11. Majerle had three 3-pointers.
Weatherspoon led Holland with 13 points and Taylor DeRoo chipped
in 12.
