Rockford Rams 61, Detroit Rogers 54
Rockford holds on to complete
sweep of Detroit schools
By Kelly Hill / The Grand Rapids
Press
Two games in two nights against Detroit-area schools left Rockford fatigued Saturday night at Creston, but the Rams showed enough character to beat Detroit Rogers 61-54.
The victory, coming 24 hours after the Rams beat Detroit Renaissance, improved Rockford's record to 5-0.
The Rams let a 10-point lead evaporate in the third quarter, and a 9-point edge in the fourth quarter all but disappeared, yet Rockford held on for the victory. "We were very much worried about a letdown," said Rockford coach Steve Majerle. "We got tired and got a little careless with the ball in the fourth quarter and that's how they got back into it.
"We were concerned about a letdown because we know that Rogers is every bit as good as Renaissance, even though Renaissance gets all the press.
"We played tremendously (Friday) night. We only played seven guys (Friday) night and five of them played most of the game."
Those same seven played most of Saturday night's game.
Despite Rogers' two rallies, Majerle was never particularly concerned as his Rams always managed to maintain a slim lead. "This team has invested a lot of time into this," Majerle said. "Basketball means a lot to them, so they are not going to give up when somebody comes back from 10 points down. A lot of these guys have been around for a long time, so I hope that wouldn't bother them."
Rogers' first rally bothered the Rams little as Rockford answered the Rangers' nine straight points with eight straight of their own. Rogers cut Rockford's lead to only two (47-45) with three minutes left in the game, but the Rams responded with a seven-point run.
"Our kids showed a lot of character," said Rogers coach Steve Hall, whose Rangers are now 4-2 on the year. "We always preach that basketball is a game of runs and good teams usually counter good runs with runs of their own."
Hall and his Rangers were hoping that their up-tempo game would wear down the Rams. We know that Rockford played a seven-man rotation against Renaisance so we wanted to wear them down," Hall said. "Since (Rockford) played (Friday) night, we wanted to run and wear them down. We wanted a chance to win at the end and we really did."
Trailing 59-54 in the game's final minute, Ranger senior Dhaman Finley appeared to be fouled attempting a 3-pointer. Had Finley been awarded, and had made, three free throws, Rockford's lead would have been only two.
Senior guard Drew Powell led the Rams with 22 points and seven rebounds. Junior guard Michael Redell added 17 points and senior center Alexander Briggs scored 12. Rogers senior Byron Davis led all scorers, with 23 points.
