By Randy Gregory
Photo courtesy of Miles Postema
After starting the season with a record of 2-3 the Rockford boys’ hoops squad has settled into a solid groove over the last several weeks. Rockford hosted Grand Haven on Tuesday, January 9th and jumped out to a commanding lead over the Buccaneers before settling for an 86-70 victory in an offensive showcase for Rams. Rockford was slated to host a resurgent Grandville squad on Friday the 12th but adverse weather forced the game to be played the previous day. And once again the Rams displayed their recent prowess by topping the Bulldogs 61-51. The two wins moved Rockford to 7-3 on the season as they prepare to embark on an arduous two-game slate this week.
“Grand Haven has been a difficult match up for us over the last few years,” said Rockford Coach Kyle Clough. “They are kind of undersized this year and roll out almost a four-guard lineup that kind of forced us out to the perimeter. We thought there would be some offense but nowhere near as much as the final score showed. But at the end of the day we made some big plays when we needed to and ended up pulling away. All in all, it was a great win for us against a team that has had our number of late.”
Sophomore Jake Bascom led the Rams with 18 points and eight rebounds. Senior Drake Irwin matched that point total with 18 of his own while coming up just a rebound short with seven. Senior Seth Anderson had a big game off the bench for Rockford with 15 points and fellow senior Andrew Landis tossed in 14 of his own. Sophomore guard Dylan Gross completed the plethora of double-digit scorers for the Rams with 11 points while adding four assists. Junior Michael DeKuiper had three assists andled the defensive charge as he slowly rounds back into shape from a football injury.
In the Grandville contest the Rams build a lead that grew to as large as 18 points late in the third quarter before a late Bulldog surge cut it to five points before the Rams again established control in grabbing the win that moved their OK Red record to 3-0. Grandville has struggled on the court over the last several seasons but they rebounded this time around with a lineup that features four players over 6’5″ and a very talented freshman.
“This is without a doubt the best Grandville team in my eight years of coaching at Rockford,” said Clough. “Their size alone is very intimidating around the basket. I kind of have to take some of the blame for the lead dwindling in the fourth quarter. We sat back a bit and lost that edge we had established over the first three quarters while letting them back in the game. We have not been in that position often this year where we have built a big lead but we pulled it out in the end by getting back to what had worked so well earlier for us. It was an excellent lesson for us to keep the pedal to the metal for the entire game and not relax. It was again an excellent win against a very good team from Grandville.”
Landis led the Rams this time around with 21 points and four steals. Irwin added 13 points and five assists while Bascom poured in ten points while claiming eight rebounds. Gross put up seven points while also dishing out five assists. DeKuiper again was the leader of a strong defensive effort for Rockford as he made life difficult for every guard for the Dawgs while again adding a trio of assists.
Rockford will be home for the third consecutive contest when they host Hudsonville on Tuesday, January 16th. They will then make their first foray to a visiting venue when they travel to East Kentwood on Friday, January19th. Both Hudsonville and East Kentwood are ranked within the top 20 teams in the state and will provide stern tests for the Rams as they look to extend their winning streak.
