By Randy Gregory, Michigan Sports Radio
Photo courtesy of Miles Postema
Rockford rallied from a 35-25 first half deficit to claim their second state championship in boys’ basketball at the Breslin Center on Saturday, March 14 by the score of 54-50 over the defending state champs from East Lansing High School. The Michigan High School Athletic Association Division 1 crown is now paired with the 2003 title won at the then designated, at that time, Class A crown. The Breslin center has a capacity of nearly 15,000 and was nearly at that mark with the legendary following of the Rockford faithful and the local squad from East Lansing.
“These kids just never stopped believing in themselves,” said Rockford Coach Kyle Clough. “They (East Lansing) kicked our butts in the summer shootout in west Michigan and they set the standard for what we were shooting for as a program. We knew we needed to come out strong with a good start. The confidence they play with when they get ahead is scary so we wanted our kids to show them we were going to stick in this thing from the beginning. Eli (Wolfe) let that one fly from the Spartan logo early and that was important to get going early. We knew they were going to make a run but it was also equally as important what we did in the final minute and a half of the second quarter. Dylan hit that three to get us back within five and that kept us in contact”
Rockford jumped out to an 8-0 lead right out of the gate as sophomore Josh Bascom scored underneath, followed by three pointers from freshman Jace Opoku-Agyeman and the lengthy bomb from sophomore Eli Wolfe. But East Lansing featured not only “Mr. Basketball” KJ Torbert, but several other returning starters from last year’s 26-1 champions. And they narrowed the score to an 11-10 Rockford lead at the end of the opening quarter.
That run then came from the Trojans as Torbert and junior Kingston Thomas both started hitting from everywhere. They went on a 25-14 run that gave them a 35-25 lead and sent their large following into a sustained roar that had the Rams on the precipice of blowing this game open. But a basket from Josh Bascom and the three from Gross made it a 35-30 contest at the half. At that juncture the Rams made a critical defensive change as they went to a matchup zone.
“We went to switching between a man to man and zone in the second half and even switched sometimes in the middle of a possession,” said Clough. “We were doing anything we could to keep them guessing. And it was a group effort from all of our guards, and I think even Josh, to keep Torbert under control as best we could. To hold a team that talented to fifteen points for an entire half is just unbelievable.”
The third quarter was pretty much status quo as the Rams featured the strength of their balanced attack against the one-man show of Torbert for the Trojans. Rockford ended the quarter with a 12-10 advantage for those eight minutes, and it was anyone’s game at that point with a 45-42 East Lansing lead entering the final quarter. That set the table for a crucial pair of plays from the Bascom brothers for the Rams. First, it was senior All Stater Jake with a triple from the right wing to tie things up at 45-45. After an East Lansing basket gave them a temporary 47-45 lead, Josh answered with a triple from the left baseline to give Rockford a 48-47 lead. The Rams never trailed again from that point forward, but were temporarily tied.
Opoku-Agyeman gave Rockford a 50-47 lead with 2-25 to play but Torbert had an answer for the Trojans with a difficult triple from the corner to knot things up at 50-50 with 1:29 to play and the entirety of the Breslin Center crowd held their collective breath in anticipation of the final minute plus. But it was the young Rams who answered the bell in crunch time. First, it was Josh Bascom on a great feed to Wolfe for a back door layup that put the Rams ahead 52-50 with :56 to play. Then the Trojans tried to continually move the ball around looking for a Torbert shot to either tie things up or take the lead. But Rockford continually doubled Torbert whenever he touched the ball and he never really had a chance to get a shot up. The Trojans finally got a shot from the corner with nine seconds to play but it was well short and Opoku-Agyeman gathered in the rebound and forced a Trojan foul. After another Trojan foul trying to reach the limit to send Rockford to the free throw line, Josh Bascom again found himself inbounding from the side near midcourt. He faked inbounding into the back court before finding a streaking Opoku-Agyeman for a clinching layup that made it a 54-50 insurmountable lead with only one second to play.
That set off a jubilant celebration for the Rockford faithful as they claimed their second state championship in school history. The Rams shot over 70% collectively as a team in both the third and final quarters to claim the hard-fought win. Josh Bascom led Rockford with 14 points while Opoku-Agyeman added 13. Jake Bascom finished with 11 and Gross and Wolfe finished with 8 and 7 respectively. Chase Pitsch had the only bench point for Rockford on a free throw. The Rams ended the season with a sterling 25-3 record and a permanent place in the annals of Rockford sports history.
Special mention has to be made for the efforts and sacrifice Wolfe made during this championship season. Alongside the broken foot that Josh Bascom suffered earlier this past summer, Wolfe’s perseverance was noteworthy. Clough gave him the proper accolades at the postgame press conference.
“What he (Wolfe) did for us this year is absolutely incredible,” said Clough. ” Two torn labrums in his hips, he rolled his ankle in the regional semifinal against Saginaw, and he just wouldn’t take any time off. Even at times when we asked him to sit during practice, he knew he had to be in there with his teammates. He’s one of the best guards in the whole state, period. This year he played incredibly limited. It’s an incredible commitment to his team. He could have stopped early, had the surgery and been back for AAU, but he loves these guys. And what he did deserves a lot of attention, because it was absolutely selfless and incredible.”
