Rockford boys' rally falls short against
friendly cross-state rival Warren De La Salle
Steve Kaminski | The Grand Rapids
Press, December 23, 2011 12:57 a.m.
ROCKFORD -- It had been 12 days since the Warren
De La Salle Collegiate boys basketball team last played, but
Rockford proved to be the rusty ones.
The Pilots defeated the Rams 50-47 after holding
Rockford to 32.7 percent shooting for the game. Rockford managed
only 30 points through the first three quarters and trailed by
10 before making a late surge. But Rockford’s offense stalled
again down the stretch.
The Rams cut the deficit to 44-42 with four minutes
remaining, but they failed to score another point until there
was 23 seconds remaining.
"They are a talented and well-coached team,
and they executed better than we did tonight," said Rockford
coach Nick Allen, whose team was coming off a Tuesday night victory
against East Grand Rapids. "Our kids play hard and they
have a resiliency about them and they don’t give up easy,
but we didn’t have enough in the tank tonight."
Though Rockford (2-2) and De La Salle (3-0) are
on opposite sides of the state, the two schools have developed
a friendly rivalry in recent seasons. Thursday’s game marked
the fourth consecutive year the teams have squared off during
Christmas break, and both coaches expressed interest in continuing
to play in the future.
The Rams were most effective from 3-point range,
making 8-of-23 shots. Free-throw shooting is where De La Salle
did its most damage. The Pilots converted 20-of-24 free throws,
compared to 5-of-7 for the Rams.
Brad Law, a senior guard, led the way for the Pilots
with a game-high 18 points. He was 10-of-12 from the free-throw
line and his defense was a plus, too.
Chad Carlson paced the Rams with 16 points, including
four 3-pointers, but Pilots coach Greg Esler said his team generally
did a nice job defending Rockford’s junior point guard.
"We thought the key tonight was stopping Carlson," Esler
said. "I thought we did a good job on him. We kept him in
front of us. He’s a great player. He is one of the best
point guards that I have seen in a long time. He’s heady,
and he’s a great coach on the floor.
"Every time he hit a 3, we would switch and
put someone else on him. We didn’t get too excited. Brad
Law and Marc Wouters did a great job on him."
The only times Rockford led was 2-0 and 5-4. The
Pilots led 16-15 in the second quarter when they closed out the
first half with a 9-4 run to go up 25-19.
De La Salle’s biggest lead was a 40-30 advantage
the Pilots enjoyed after three quarters. Carlson hit two of his
3-pointers in the fourth quarter to help the Rams rally, but
it wasn’t enough.
"Rockford is tough, that’s why we play
them," Esler said. "They have a great school and I
love their fans. They are educated and enthusiastic and they
support them. We will continue playing them as long as we can.