Rockford Rams 73, Jackson 63

Rockford players close to realizing a dream
By Greg Johnson / The Grand Rapids Press

LANSING -- It's the 'talk the talk, then walk the walk' state championship scenario for the Rockford Rams.

Coach Steve Majerle has been hearing this group of players talk about winning a state championship at Michigan State's Breslin Center since they were in the seventh grade.

"All kids talk about it, but these kids are going to take the shot, and we're extremely happy," he said after the Rams earned a 73-63 win over Jackson in front of 5,000 fans at the Class A quarterfinal game at Lansing Eastern Field House Tuesday night.

The Rams (26-0) will play Detroit Murray-Wright (18-2) in a 2:50 p.m. semifinal Friday at Breslin with the winner advancing to Saturday's state title game. It will be the school's first state semifinal appearance in basketball, and the first by a Grand Rapids area Class A team since Ottawa Hills won the 1997 state championship.

"I just told the kids that I've done this 17 years, and never been to the Breslin," Majerle said. "Some teams and coaches work forever, and never get to that spot. We're happy. It's been a goal of these kids for a long time."

The Rams started strong against Jackson behind junior point guard Michael Redell, who finished with 24 points and six assists. He made a pair 3-point shots, came up with steal and assisted on another basket in a two-minute stretch at the end of the first quarter to help Rockford take a 22-12 lead into the second quarter.

The Rams had trouble with fouls and a trapping zone by the Vikings late in the second quarter, but at one point had a 33-17 lead. Jackson pulled within nine points by the end of the third quarter, but never came closer than eight points the rest of the game.

Senior shooting guard Drew Powell finished with 18 points, senior forward RC Douglas had 17 points and nine rebounds, and senior center Alex Briggs had 10 points.

"Rockford hit big shot after big shot," Jackson coach Tracey Lowder said. "The zone bothered them for a while, but like all good teams, they figured that out and kept hitting shots. If they keep playing like that, then we will be able to say we lost to the state champs."

Jackson's Keonta Howell, a 6-5 forward, did all he could to try and stop the Rams. He finished with 25 points and 16 rebounds.

"That (Howell) really surprised me," Majerle said. "We knew he was a good player, but we didn't think he was that good. We wanted to make him work for his points, and he got some easy ones early. I thought we did a much better job on him in the second half."

Jarrod Axon, a junior forward, came off the bench to score 10 points, and point guard Derek Potter, a senior, had eight points for the Vikings, who finished the season with a 15-11 record.

Jackson stayed within striking distance most of the night with the help of a 39-33 advantage in rebounds overall, including 20-15 in the first half.

"We were getting smoked on the boards most of the game, and that was probably the only disappointing thing we had," Majerle said. "It kept them in the game, kept us from getting a lead where we wouldn't have to worry at the end."

Redell said his shot simply felt good early in the game.

"I had confidence every time I got it that the shot was going in," he said. "Sometimes it happens. Sometimes it doesn't. But today it did, and it helped against the zone."

Douglas said he worried a bit about the zone by Jackson in the second quarter, but was confident the Rams would figure it out.

"We have experience in big games, and we've been preparing since we were little kids in AAU for this chance," he said. "We want to go to the Breslin and win a state championship, and we're on our way."