Rockford sharp in win over upstart Grandville

Saturday, January 12, 2002

The team's shoot-it-up personality doesn't quite match the coach's defend-every-minute personality, but an 8-0 record indicates Rockford is not a team in conflict.

The Rams sent scorers in waves and played some tough perimeter defense, too, sweeping away the Grandville Bulldogs 80-65 Friday night at Rockford.

"They have so many weapons," said Grandville coach Dan Remenap. "You try to take away one, and another is available. They are tough, deep, tall, they shoot the ball well, they play good defense and they are well-coached. I guess we see why they haven't been beaten. I didn't think we played that badly."

They didn't. The Rams simply rocked, scoring 28 points in the second quarter to take command. The Bulldogs did pull within 10 points twice in the second half, but each time suffered turnovers on consecutive possessions.

Derek Douglas, a 6-foot-5 senior center, scored 17 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead the Rams, but he had a bevy of help scoring. Kyle Trewhella, a senior guard, had 13 points, as did Drew Powell, a junior who came off the bench.

Alex Briggs, a 6-7 junior forward, had nine points, and a trio of players, sophomore Michael Redell, senior Erik Hansen and junior R.C. Douglas, each scored eight.

"Offensively, we can't play much better than that," said Rockford coach Steve Majerle. "We definitely have a lot of people who can shoot the ball. We're fun to watch.

"We even play good defense for two-, three-minute stretches. I would like to see more, but you know, I'll take 8-0 and the way we are playing. We have plenty to work on in practice, and I'm trying to get used to a team that likes to shoot the ball."

Grandville's Kiel Sherwood, a 6-7 junior forward, did some damage shooting the ball. He finished with a game-high 23 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Chris Posthumus, a 6-7 senior center, had 17 points and six rebounds.

"We did a good job on Posthumus inside most of the night, but we were not supposed to let Sherwood get off that many shots," Majerle said. "He can play, and we let him do too much out there."

Remenap said the game was more an indication of how good Rockford can be, not so much the way his team can play.

"They didn't let us get entry passes, and then they go down and score, and they have a lot of players who can score," he said. "We'll keep working on it. We had good stretches."

back to top