RHS 86, East Kentwood 50
Rockford crushes
East Kentwood, 86-50, to earn A PIECE OF THE RED
Saturday, February 09, 2002
By Jeff Chaney
The Grand Rapids Press
There was no way a long delay was going to stop the Rockford boys basketball team from achieving the main goal it had set this year.
The Rams had to sit and wait on a lengthy freshmen game between the Rams and East Kentwood, and a junior varsity game that had 85 fouls called in it and went into triple overtime before they took the floor on Friday night to try and earn at least a share of the O-K Red Conference title.
The varsity game didn't tip off until 9:17 p.m., a time when most high school games are ending. It ended around 10:45.
But the waiting game didn't bother undefeated Rockford, crushing the host Falcons 86-50. The Rams were prevented from winning the conference title outright with the win thanks to Holland's 60-52 win over Mona Shores.
"The whole time tonight we were saying that we needed this game for a piece of the Red," said 6-foot-5 senior center Derek Douglas, who led the Rams by scoring a game-high 21 points and grabbing 12 rebounds.
"We were talking about getting tight again, but I told everybody just to stay loose and get ready because we wanted that share of the title tonight."
Rockford coach Steve Majerle echoed those sentiments.
"We got a share of the title tonight, but we are not done with our goal yet," Majerle said. "The next step for us is to win it outright Friday against Grandville."
The Rams wasted little time in seizing control the game against East Kentwood, scoring from all over the court to race out to a 23-7 first-quarter lead.
Rockford hit three 3-pointers in the first eight minutes, and continually went inside to make use of a considerable size advantage.
"They are a real good team," East Kentwood coach Justin Jennings said.
"They came out and beat us from the outside, and they beat us down low, and they got us down early. They are a very good team."
Jennings' team did play better in the second quarter, getting outscored just 15-14.
But in the second half, with Majerle rotating players on a regular basis, Rockford increased its lead to 62-38 after three quarters, and finished the game on a 23-8 run.
"We still have a long way to go," Jennings said. "We have a very young team, and we just want to build for the future. Rockford is the kind of team that we want to gauge ourselves with."
Even though his team walked away from East Kentwood with a big win and a share of the conference title, Majerle still says his team didn't play a perfect game Friday.
The Rams did look sloppy at time, committing 16 turnovers on the night.
"We didn't play real smart tonight, but everybody got a chance to play," Majerle said. "I thought we played hard, but not smart.
"They are a little depleted with injuries right now," he added. "This was a good game to get a lot of people an opportunity to play."
East Kentwood was led in scoring by James Poole with 12 points.