Rockford not in a sharing mood
Saturday, February 16, 2002
By Jane Bos
The Grand Rapids Press

A small cheer from a paltry student section. A more rousing salute from the larger parent section. A quick group hug in the locker room.

Except for the impromptu posed pictures of the Rockford basketball team -- with each member sporting spanking-new red T-shirts proclaiming their latest accomplishment -- it was tough to tell the Rams captured the outright O-K Red Conference championship Friday night.

But Rockford did just that after a tougher-than-it-looks 65-55 conference victory at Grandville. The Rams last earned the Red crown two years ago, sharing it with Holland.

Rockford, ranked fifth in the state in Class A, stayed perfect on the season at 17-0 overall and 12-0 in the O-K Red. Grandville is 9-7, 6-5.

"It's nice to win the championship, and it's nicer not to share it with anyone," said Rockford coach Steve Majerle. "The kids are happy to get to this point, but there is more on their minds. The undefeated thing is not the important thing for us, either. We're focusing on getting better. We have a lot of goals ahead of us."

Grandville coach Dan Remenap said it's going to be tough for anyone to stand in the Rams' way.

"They're tough to defend," he said. "They have so many doggone options. Four of their perimeter guys have to have terrible nights in order to beat them. The odds of that happening are not good.

"Of course, then they would pound it inside. They are the deepest team I've seen in this area in a long time."

Still, Grandville gave Rockford a scare. The two teams match-up well, and the Bulldogs kept it close until the fourth quarter. The lead changed hands seven times before Rockford took over.

Then, Kyle Trewhella sank back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Rams a 52-46 edge with about six minutes remaining.

Rockford made 9 of 12 free-throw attempts in the final 31/2 minutes to seal the win.

Trewhella led the winners with 21 points, including five 3-point shots. Michael Redell added 14 points, and Derek Douglas, a 6-foot-5 senior, totaled 10 points and seven rebounds.

Rockford sank nine 3-pointers in the game.

"I just knew that we had to kick it up, and we had to have someone make some shots," Trewhella said. "(Grandville) played a good game."

It was the kind of game Majerle wanted his team to experience.

"We haven't had a lot of that yet this year," he said. "Grandville is the first team we played that is as big as we are, that can rebound. We had no easy baskets, we never got into our transition game until the end."

Grandville was led by 6-7 Chris Posthumus with 19 points and five rebounds. Andy Clausen added 11 points.

back to top