Rockford Rams 49, Forest Hills Central 47

Heroics by Douglas give Rockford title
By Jane Bos / The Grand Rapids Press

Rockford senior R.C. Douglas felt the pressure.

The shot -- his shot with three seconds remaining in a frenzied Class A district championship against Forest Hills Central -- would either cap a dramatic comeback or force an overtime.

"I was scared," Douglas said. "It was the hardest layup of my life. I thought I was going to miss it."

He didn't. And Rockford led 49-47.

Forest Hills Central called a timeout, regrouped, and set up for one final shot at victory with 2.9 seconds on the clock. But Douglas intercepted the long pass to seal the win at home.

"I saw it, I knew it was mine," he said of the final pass. "Unbelievable."

Indeed.

Trailing 45-32 with 6:08 left in the fourth quarter, third-ranked and unbeaten Rockford rallied to post a seemingly improbable victory to claim its third district title in four years.

The largest crowd ever gathered in the Rams 10-year-old home gymnasium, 4,200 wild and screaming fans, crammed into the bleachers and hung around the railings to watch.

The Rams were on a 31-home-game winning streak, but the home crowd could not have felt good during the first three quarters.

Sixth-ranked Forest Hills Central (21-2) controlled the first 26 minutes of the game and led 43-31 entering the fourth quarter and 45-32 with 6:08 remaining.

That's when the Rams got tough.

They upped their defensive pressure, going full-court, caused nine turnovers and went on a 15-0 scoring run to take a 47-45 lead, their first since early in the first quarter.

Forest Hills Central senior star James Telman, who played a heroic first half, sank two free throws with 1:00 left to tie the score at 47.

Rockford proceeded to eat up the clock and called a timeout with 13.9 seconds left to set up the final shot. Then Drew Powell took the ball and fed it inside to Douglas, who scored the winning basket.

"There was no doubt we would come back," Powell, a senior guard, said. "We've rallied back so many times. We've played together for so long. Once we applied pressure, it was our game."

In the fourth quarter, the Rams forced the Rangers into making 14 turnovers, while outscoring them 18-4.

"You can never count these kids out," said Rockford coach Steve Majerle, whose team last won back-to-back districts in 2000 and 2001. "These kids have a high basketball IQ. They are so self-motivated, I really didn't have to say anything to them. They knew what they had to do. My only job was telling them not to try and get it all back at once, not to make any big gamble plays."

It worked.

Alex Briggs led the Rams with 15 points, while Powell pumped in 13 points and dished out seven assists. Kevin Wurn added nine points, including a clutch 3-pointer to tie the game at 45 with 1:38 remaining.

The victory sends Rockford (23-0) into Wednesday's 6 p.m. regional semifinal at Grand Haven against Northview (14-8), a 55-53 winner over Ottawa Hills Friday.

"I feel bad for Forest Hills Central, I've been on the other side," said Majerle, whose team went unbeaten to the district finals a year ago, losing to Forest Hills Central 55-40. "Obviously, I'm glad it was us that ended up on top, but I feel for them."

The Rangers, led by Telman, certainly played a good game.

Telman tossed in a game-high 29 points, including 22 points in a first-half effort which saw the Rangers lead 29-27. Kyle Visser added nine points.

"The difference is playing on this court," said FHC coach Ken George. "It felt like the court was 10 foot by 10 foot. I felt like we were doing such a good job. I thought for three quarters we were the better team. To come into this building, that was tough. That was the difference."