By Randy Gregory, Michigan Sports Radio
Photo courtesy of Miles Postema
Coming off a league game the prior night against rival East Kentwood, it wasn’t known how the Rams would react to a game against traditional Detroit power Warren DeLaSalle the following day at the GGI Classic at East Kentwood. Consider that question answered in resounding fashion as the Rams pummeled the Pilots 92-63 in an overwhelming display at both ends of the court. Leading the way for Rockford was the duo of the Bascom brothers as they combined for 41 points while flashing great skill on both sides of the court. Junior Jake Bascom poured in 26 points while adding a pair of thunderous dunks and multiple blocked shots. Freshman Josh Bascom had 15 points on the strength of powerful moves to the basket that the Pilots had no answer for.
The Rams made only eight three-pointers on the night, which is just an average showing for them. But their ability to impose their will on the interior was a decisive factor in the blowout win. Rockford led only 17-13 at the end of the first quarter but they then broke out their whipping sticks and outscored the Pilots 57-36 in the middle sixteen minutes. The Rams outscored the Pilots in each quarter on their way to the win. Rockford carried a 74-49 edge into the final quarter and displayed their depth while gaining valuable playing time for a seemingly endless parade of talent.
Junior Dylan Gross had a scoreless opening quarter before exploding for 11 points in the second quarter on his way to 16 points. Senior sharpshooter Ty Blystone had three triples and ended the night with 11 points. Freshman Eli Wolfe also added seven points and a few dazzling assists for Rockford. The win moved the Rams to 10-1 on the season as they await another stern test when Hudsonville comes calling in a key OK Red game on Tuesday, January 14 at 7:00 P.M.
Rams grab pair of wins over East Kentwood and Byron Center
Rockford hosted a young, talented team from East Kentwood on Friday, January 10. After a physical battle in the opening quarter that saw Rockford leading by a narrow margin at 9-8, it was pretty much a solid display from the Rams on both ends of the court on their way to a 64-39 triumph. The Rams outscored East Kentwood in every quarter to secure the win.
Earlier in the week the Rams trailed for nearly the entire evening when they faced off in a top ten matchup against Byron Center. But a late basket from Dylan Gross forced overtime and a breakaway dunk from Jake Bascom secured the OT victory by the score of 65-61. Bascom led the way for Rockford in the BC game as he poured in 24 points against a 6’9″ Division 1 center fort the Bulldogs. Dylan Gross added 15 and Ty Blystone chipped in with ten.
The East Kentwood contest featured the Falcons showing little from the perimeter but making a concerted effort to drive to the hole. Rockford frustrated them at nearly every turn but struggled to score themselves on a consistent basis. But the Rams started clicking a bit more in the second quarter and built the lead to 25-16 at the halftime break.
“You have to give a lot of credit to East Kentwood. They have a lot of young kids who are very energetic and are eventually going to get better and better,” said Rockford coach Kyle Clough. “I just thought they kind of caused us to be a little stagnant offensively and I don’t think we guarded well at times and we could not get our running game going. Once we got more consistent stops and got some rebounds that enabled us to get our running game going and that is a big part of who we are as a team. Once we got that part of our game going and really put the clamps on them defensively we really took control of the contest.”
Freshman Eli Wolfe hit one of his four triples midway through the third quarter that extended the Rockford lead to 39-19 and the Rams pretty much coasted from that point forward. The defensive prowess of Rockford as the game progressed left the Falcons frustrated for the rest of the evening.
“To give our kids a lot of credit, it is kind of amazing that they were frustrated with a 25-point win over a pretty darn good team,” said Clough. “That says a lot about where we are at as a team right now. Eli (Wolfe) showed the type of talent he has tonight. He makes an occasional play where I am probably a bit too hard on him as a freshman and then he comes back out and makes plays that make you go Wow! But we have some strong senior guards as well and we adjusted to the things that were frustrating us early and ended up holding them to 39 points not even playing what we really feel is our best.”
Wolfe led Rockford with 17 points and was the only Ram in double figures. Jake Bascom added nine and Lucas Pitsch and Gross tossed in seven apiece.
