Rockford Rams 41, East Kentwood Falcons 43

East Kentwood boys basketball team edges Rockford to win share of OK Red crown
Dean Holzwarth | grsports@mlive.com

KENTWOOD – East Kentwood boys basketball coach Jeff Anama is usually mild mannered on the sidelines.

However, with an OK Red Conference championship at stake against visiting Rockford Tuesday night, Anama displayed uncharacteristic emotion with an emphatic fist pump as his team made a mini-run midway through the fourth quarter.

A 5-0 spurt snapped a 30-30 tie and propelled the Falcons to a 43-41 victory over the Rams and secured a share of the conference title.

“I'm usually less animated, but tonight was one of those games where we knew it was going to be a war and we wanted to demonstrate lots of energy and enthusiasm,” Anama said. “I was trying to do that.”

East Kentwood (15-2, 11-2 OK Red) won the conference last season in similar fashion after knocking off the Rams in its conference finale.

Tuesday proved to be another defensive grudge match, and the Falcons couldn't celebrate until Chad Carlson's potential game-winning shot at the buzzer from near half court glanced off the side of the rim.

“We are happy to win the conference for a second year in a row, and we did the same thing last year with beating Rockford at the end,” Anama said. “Doing it on our home floor was great, and we have one more conference game to try and win it outright.”

Rockford (13-5, 10-3 OK Red) and East Kentwood entered Tuesday with two conference losses each. The Rams defeated the Falcons in the first meeting.

“We had a championship to win tonight, so this was really big,” said East Kentwood senior Tavon Robinson, who had a game-high 19 points and added five rebounds.

“It took defense and rebounding to win tonight, and I don't want to share (the conference) at all. We have to do the same thing on Friday (against Hudsonville) so we can win it outright.”

After the lead traded hands several times early in the fourth quarter, East Kentwood took control when freshman Brent Kimbrel buried a 3-pointer and senior Melvin Harris had a key offensive rebound and put-back to put the Falcons ahead 35-30.

East Kentwood never relinquished the lead after the pivotal plays.

“Brent's shot demonstrated how a lot of guys do it for us, and showed how balanced and unselfish we are,” Anama said. “And then the extra effort rebounding showed the resilience of what we needed to win the OK Red.”

Carlson, who led Rockford with 14 points, connected on a pair of deep 3-pointers in the final minute to bring the Rams to within two points.

“Both teams played incredibly hard, and there was a lot riding on this game,” Rockford coach Nick Allen said. “Credit to East Kentwood because they did a great job. They made plays when it counted and we did not.”

Rockford now has to beat West Ottawa Friday and have East Kentwood lose to Hudsonville to create a three-way tie at the top.