Holland gets rocked at home

Saturday, December 15, 2001

By Jane Bos
The Grand Rapids Press

The Rockford basketball team ended the streak -- and ended it big and strong and decisively.

The Rams powered their way to a 65-39 win over Holland at the Dutch Dome Friday night.

The last time the Dutch lost at home was in the 1998-99 season when Rockford, led by Taylor Bro (who's now playing at Western Michigan University) beat them.

The win keeps Rockford perfect on the season, 3-0 overall and 2-0 in the O-K Red Conference. Holland (2-2, 1-1) lost its first conference game since the 1999-2000 season, ending a 15-game winning streak in the Red.

"I have smart kids who really love to play basketball," Rockford coach Steve Majerle said. "This is a special group so far. This is a big win for us, to win here, but it doesn't mean much if we turn around and lose to West Ottawa (on Tuesday)."

After a sluggish first half, taller Rockford started taking it inside. Led by 6-foot-5 Derek Douglas and his brother R.C. Douglas, a 6-6 junior, the Rams outscored Holland 39-19 in the second half.

Derek Douglas totaled 19 points and nine rebounds, while R.C. Douglas had nine points and 10 rebounds. The Douglas brothers scored 21 of their combined 28 points in the second half.

Kyle Trewella scored 11 points for the Rams, and sophomore Mike Redell added nine.

"Derek and R.C., it was tough for us to stop them in the second half," said Holland coach Mark Werley. "Defensively, we did a pretty solid job in the first half. It would've been nice to have some sort of a lead at the time, we earned it defensively, but the offense couldn't put the ball in the hole.

"When you struggle scoring, any breakdown hurts."

Behind six consecutive points by Michael Hall, Holland went on top 12-9 late in the first quarter and led 15-12 entering the second quarter.

Rockford's points in the first quarter came on four 3-point shots.

Holland made 1 of 8 field-goal attempts in the second quarter to fall behind 26-20 at halftime. Rockford made 6 of 10 3-point shots in the first half.

"In the beginning, Holland did a nice job of taking away Derek Douglas," Majerle said. "Their zone bothered us, and we couldn't find our big men down low. We fumbled the ball a lot. We did a better job of attacking in the second half."

They certainly took advantage of their size in the second half. The Rams outrebounded the Dutch 22-6 in the final 16 minutes. For the game, Rockford earned a 39-17 edge rebounding.

"We did have a slow half, but we did not panic," Majerle said. "We stayed focused. Holland did that last year (when it went 20-0), they had a special group. We took a page out of their book."

Friday, Holland was led by Hall, a 6-2 forward, with 16 points and six rebounds. Teammate Jeff Carlson, a three-year starter, was held to seven points.

The Dutch made 6 of 17 free-throw attempts, compared to 4 of 5 for the Rams.

"We didn't really think about losing or not losing here at home," Werley said. "We just got a whupping tonight. We're disappointed, that doesn't happen to us. We want to play better than we did."

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