Rockford Rams 64, Mona Shores 45

Rams basketball team wins 32 straight games
by Rich Hull / Rockford Squire

Rockford's varsity basketball team won its thirty-first and thirty-second regular season games this past week. The Rams posted victories against north end rival Northview, 65-53, last week Tuesday, and a league victory over visiting Mona Shores, 64-45, the following Friday. This also improved this year's team to 10-0 halfway through the season, and also sports a 20-game home winning streak.

Rams' senior RC Douglas jumped to a quick start for Rockford, scoring eight of his 14 points in the first quarter to help the Rams to a 19-10 lead. The lead grew to a 32-14 advantage in the second behind an 11-point outburst by Michael Redell, which included three triples. But the Wildcats refused to be tamed.

With just over four minutes left in the first half, Northview clawed their way back into the game. They outscored Rockford 13-4 to cut the deficit to under ten, 36-27.

"We had our chance to put them away there and we just didn't," said Rams' head coach Steve Majerle. "They got a couple of easy baskets and that got them going, and it was a dogfight after that."

The Rams were able to push the lead back up to 13 points mid way through the third, 46-33, but six straight points by the Cats brought them back into the game again, 46-39. The Rams were able to keep their nine-point edge, 50-41, heading into the final eight minutes.

Rockford went cold and didn't take care of the ball very well to start the final quarter. They were held to just two points for the first two minutes, while Northview chipped away at their lead and cut it to just three points, 52-49, forcing a Rockford time out. The Rams responded behind senior Alex Briggs who hit the next two buckets for the Rams and blocked a pair of shots, followed by a Redell triple to make the score 59-51. Powell buried a pair from the charity stripe to push the lead back to 10 points, and it grew to an even dozen, 63-51, as Briggs was the benefactor of a Kevin Wurn steal.

"The key was getting on top of them early," explained Majerle. "We are a pretty good team when we are ahead. We turned a three-point game into a 12-point game just by spreading the floor."

Powell led the Rams in scoring with 18. Redell followed with 17, and Douglas had his 14 to go along with his team high seven rebounds.

The Sailors from Mona Shores paid a visit last Friday evening for a league contest that ended up not being much of a contest after it was all said and done.

Mona played the Rams tough in the first half, trailing them by just six, 24-18, heading into the break. But it would be too much Powell for the Sailors to handle, as he scored 28 points to lead the Rams to victory. Douglas tossed in an additional 15 for the Rams as well.

"We're getting spoiled," said a smiling Majerle. "Or should I say I'm getting spoiled. They are a great team to watch. Mona is a good team, but we are supposed to beat teams like this."

The Rams will attempt to make history this weekend as they go for the tie at Jenison, and will break the regular season winning streak on Saturday against Flint Northwestern at 5:00 p.m. This record hasn't been challenged like this in 33 years, as the Rams have had only three streaks of seven wins or more since the record was set, with the longest being 13 games back in 1990. At the Flint game, there will also be some of the players on hand from the 1967-68 teams who set the record.

"Jenison will be a real tough game, because if they want to stay in the hunt for the Red they will have to beat us," added Majerle. "They will be playing with great intensity and will have a huge home crowd to back them."
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