Rockford Rams 61, Forest Hills Northern 52

Rockford, FHC set up showdown
By Jane Bos / The Grand Rapids Press

Unbeaten Rockford and Forest Hills Central, once beaten by Rockford in the season-opener, rolled through respective conference seasons.

And after winning Class A district semifinal games Wednesday, the two state and area powers are set to clash for the district championship for the second year in a row.

Will third-rated Rockford continue its impeccable season? Will sixth-ranked Forest Hills Central end the Rams' perfect year again?

The speculation ends Friday.

The Rangers easily defeated Lowell for the third time this season, 70-48, at Rockford to advance to the 7 p.m. finals.

Then in the nightcap, the host Rams needed a critical scoring spurt at the end of the third quarter and some quality free-throw shooting down the stretch to edge Forest Hills Northern 61-52.

"Oh, yeah, we've been looking forward to it," said Rockford coach Steve Majerle, whose team beat the Rangers 50-46 in the season's first game. "Forest Hills Central will tell you they haven't thought about it, we'll tell you we haven't thought about it, but I know both of us have been looking forward to it. It will be a fun game."

Their clash certainly was interesting a year ago. Then Forest Hills Central upset the Rams 55-40 to claim its first district crown since 1985 and reached the quarterfinals.

Rockford (22-0) last won back-to-back titles in 2000 and '01.

"We're excited about it," said FHC coach Ken George, whose team is 21-1. "But we are going to do everything we can to treat it like any other game, in spite of all the hype."

Forest Hills Northern (12-9) did its best to squash the hype Wednesday, leading for most of the game. Midway through the third quarter, the Huskies were still on top, 27-22.

Then, with less than one minute left in the third and Rockford trailing 33-32, the Rams got serious.

First, Drew Powell sank a basket to give the Rams their first lead since early in the first quarter. Then a pair of steals by Michael Redell and R.C. Douglas -- which led to baskets by Redell and Joel Visser -- put Rockford on top, 38-33, entering the fourth quarter.

Forest Hills Northern pulled to within three points with 2:53 left after a thundering slam by John Jonker. But Powell answered with a clutch 3-pointer, keeping the Rams ahead 50-44.

Rockford connected on 8 of 10 free throws in the final two minutes to seal the win.

"I hoped we could keep them down all game, but they are really talented," FHN coach Steve Harvey said. "I'm just really proud of how we competed."

The Huskies, who had played without Tyler Worst and Bojan Lozic due to injuries the last month, got a heroic game from Lozic. Playing in his first game in two weeks after suffering an ankle injury, he poured in 26 points.

Powell starred for Rockford in the second half, scoring all of his 21 points, including an 8-for-8 showing at the free-throw line in the fourth quarter.

Redell, a junior point guard, added 15 points for the Rams.

"Northern always does this to us," Majerle said. "The last three years in the tournament, it came down to the end with us. It's a credit to them. We just played tight tonight, we didn't get loose until we got the lead."

Forest Hills Central was loose throughout its win over Lowell (8-13).

The Rangers scored 28 points in the second quarter to earn a 44-20 lead at halftime. By early in the third quarter, the lead was 57-23, and the second and third string players finished the game.

Curt Ludtke totaled 15 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Rangers, who had 14 of 15 players score. Kyle Visser added 10 points and seven rebounds.

Lowell's Sam Oberlin tossed in 19 points.

"We had good energy right from the start," George said. "It was a good game for us. We are getting more comfortable here."