Rockford Rams 62, Romulus Eagles 61

Rockford uses a 10-0 fourth-quarter run to rally past Romulus, 62-61, in the Class A state semifinals
Steve Kaminski | skaminsk@mlive.com, March 23, 2012 3:53 p.m.

 

EAST LANSING – Rockford’s quest for a Class A state championship continued with Friday afternoon’s 62-61 semifinal victory over Romulus at the Breslin Center.

But for a split second, Rams senior forward Mark Pearson thought the dream was over when Romulus’ Elbert Matthews pulled up just in front of Pearson and launched a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

The season passed right before Pearson’s eyes.

“Originally, I thought it was going to go in,” Pearson said. “But it hit the back iron, and we got the W. I kept my hands straight up, and luckily, it didn’t go in and we didn’t foul.

“We worked so hard this year, and to see that shot go up…you see all of our practices, the summer stuff that we done. It has been worth it, but if it would have gone in, we wouldn’t have been satisfied. But we got one more now.”

The Rams, 22-5, will play in today’s Class A state championship game at 4 p.m., also at the Breslin. It is Rockford’s second trip to the finals and its first since 2003 when the Rams defeated Flint Carmen-Ainsworth, 41-38 to capture the title.

Rockford will play No. 1 ranked Saginaw, which improved to 25-2 after defeating Macomb L’Anse Creuse North, 59-46, in Friday’s second game.

Rockford overcame a 47-39 third-quarter deficit to take a 59-54 lead with 1:39 to go in the fourth. A 10-0 fourth-quarter run is what gave the Rams their five-point lead, which was their biggest lead of the game.

But Romulus, 22-4, proved to be pretty good at rallying, too. The Eagles fought back, tying the game at 61-61 with 30 seconds remaining.

The Rams made 18-of-25 free throws in the game, but they missed 3-of-4 in the waning seconds. However, the one late free throw they did make, which came from Ivy Johnson with seven seconds left, proved to be the difference.

Fortunately for the Rams, their defense made up for their late free throw trouble. Romulus became just the second team all season to break 60 points on the Rams, with the first coming way back in the Dec. 9 season opener when Muskegon Heights scored 64 points on the Rams.

But the Rams came up with big plays down the stretch.

Mitch Caywood stole an inbound pass under the Romulus basket after Johnson put the Rams up by one with his free throw. Rockford was immediately fouled, and while the Rams did miss both free throws, they were able to knock nearly four seconds off the clock in the exchange.

“(Rockford) Coach (Nick Allen) talks to me after practice every day about trying to get a tipped pass, and it paid off,” Caywood said.

The Rams had four players finish in double figures, with Chase Fairchild leading the way with 17 points. Scott Nikodemski added 12, while Caywood and Johnson finished with 11 apiece.

Romulus outrebounded the Rams 33-18, and the Eagles outshot them 48.1-47.5 percent. But the Rams forced 13 turnovers, while committing seven. Rockford’s bench also outscored Romulus’ 30-9.

“It was a hard fought game by both teams, and everyone says at the end of the game you have to have one more point than they do, and that’s what happened today,” said Allen, Rockford’s first-year coach.

The Rams snapped Romulus’ nine-game winning streak. Aveon Simmons and Matthews finished with 15 points each for Romulus, while Raven Lee added 13.

Romulus led 54-29 with 5:29 left in the game when the Eagles slowed down the game’s pace. That’s when the Rams reeled off 10 consecutive points.

“We weren’t trying to stall,” Romulus coach Nate Oats said. “They were packing it in, and we were trying to space them out so we could attack off of the dribble more.

“But I’m proud of my guys. We started the season 3-2.”