By Randy Gregory, Michigan Sports Radio
Photo courtesy of Miles Postema
Rockford had faced a succession of teams ranked well within the top ten in the state of various divisions in the early going of the 2025-26 basketball season. That the team stood at 6-0 and found themselves ranked as the number two team in the entire state verified the success of the Rams up to this point. Rockford opted to do things a touch differently on the final weekend of the holiday break as they traveled to Traverse City on January 2nd and 3rd to take on Traverse City West and Traverse City Central successively. The trip proved to be a rousing success for Rockford as they first topped TC West 72-34 before beating TC Central 86-55 on the following day. The pair of victories left Rockford at 8-0 on the season as the schedule now gets ready to go into overdrive.
“We really looked at this weekend as an opportunity to spend some quality time together with the team, coaches and their families,” said Rockford coach Kyle Clough. “Many of the players had their family with them and we spent the night at a hotel and had a great team meal as well. And from a basketball perspective the whole build up to the trip was great too as we were able to practice for the first time this year for three consecutive days with our entire roster. We got out to a big lead in the first game against Traverse City West and had a running clock early in the third quarter and got substantial playing time for everyone. The Traverse City Central game gave us a chance t go against a team that was a little undersized, but ran some nice pays to free up their shooters for three-point shots. They looked and played very similarly to Grand Haven and will give us the chance to try and be better in the same vein when we play them later this year.”
The TC West contest saw the Rams jump out to a substantial lead early and never look back on their way to the 72-34 win. The game stood at 44-16 at the break and featured little drama as to what the eventual outcome was going to be. Freshman Jace Opoku-Agyeman and sophomore Eli Wolfe led the Rams in scoring with 14 points apiece. Senior Jake Bascom added 12 points and sophomore Josh Bascom finished with 11 as he continues his recovery from an early season injury.
TC Central proved to be a bit more difficult in their game as Rockford held only a 36-27 lead at the half. The Rams however really put their foot on the gas in the second half as they outscored the Trojans 50-28 to ease their way to the 86-55 triumph. TC Central hit an incredible 14 three-pointers on the night to account for 42 of their 55 points. It was a struggle for them to mount much offensively against the Rams as they were looking at a several inch height discrepancy across the board. The fusillade of triples was startling in the fact that the Trojans still fell short by 31 points. Jake Bascom had a stellar game inside for Rockford with 23 points and 16 rebounds. Wolfe had a great stat line as well for Rockford as he tallied 19 points (including three triples of his own), 9 rebounds and five assists. Opoku-Agyeman continued his fine play with nine points, 4 rebounds and four assists while Josh Bascom chipped in with 7 points, 7 rebounds and three assists of his own. Senior Chase Pitsch showed his prowess as a key sub with five points, six assists and zero turnovers in extended playing time.
The schedule really ratchets itself upward for Rockford over the next two weeks. The Rams will first take on Byron Center at home on Tuesday, January 6 at 5:30 P.M. before the Rams face off with the defending state champs from East Lansing at East Kentwood High School on Saturday, January 10 at 8:15 P.M. in a battle of the top two teams in the state. The game is the feature contest of the Gottagetit hoop classic and has been highly anticipated since the showdown was announced.
The Rams will then kick off OK Red action on Tuesday, January 13 at home against East Kentwood before journeying to Hudsonville on Friday, January 16. Both of those games are slated for a 5:30 tip and both of those teams are also in the top five in the state in various rankings. Buckle up for a series of hotly contested games featuring many of the top teams in Michigan in a very short time frame.
