Class A: Ram Nation Books Return
March 23, 2012
EAST LANSING – The final buzzer sounded before Romulus’ last-gasp 3-point shot reached the rim Friday at the Breslin Center.
As Rockford’s Mark Pearson watched the ball complete its arc, he figured good or not, it wouldn’t take away from the incredible run his unranked Rams made this postseason.
“We’ve worked so hard this year, and to just see that shot go up … all our practices, all our summer stuff we’ve done, and all through the year, it’s all been worth it,” Pearson said. “If it would’ve gone in, we wouldn’t have been satisfied. But by the same token, it (would’ve been) a good year.
“But we’ve got one more now.”
When that final shot caromed off the rim, the Rams celebrated a 62-61 victory and their first championship game berth since winning the Class A title in 2003.
Rockford will face top-ranked Saginaw in the Final at 4 p.m. Saturday. The Eagles, ranked No. 2 at the start of the tournament, finished 22-4.
The Rams (22-5) split the O-K Red title with both Hudsonville and East Kentwood this season, and needed to make some key plays to get to Breslin – especially after trailing Okemos by 10 in Tuesday’s Quarterfinal.
Rockford gave up its most points Friday since opening night – but also scored its second-most this season.
“Maybe people were underestimating them. We were being a little bit too laid back on defense,” Romulus senior Ray Lee said.
And the Rams showed plenty of guts again when it counted in the Semifinal.
After the teams come out of halftime tied, Romulus began breaking away in the third quarter and went up 49-44 with a period to play. The Eagles’ lead stood at six with 5:50 to play. It seemed their time to secure a Finals bid had come.
Not so.
Rockford went on an 11-0 run that included all four of standout junior guard Chad Carlson’s points, plus five of junior Chase Fairfield’s game-high 17. With 1:43 to play, Romulus suddenly found itself down five, 59-54.
“You hope and you wish and you pray, but making those expectations is tough,” Rockford coach Nick Allen said. “We hoped and wished, and maybe prayed a little bit too.”
Seniors Mitch Caywood and Ivy Johnson would provide a few more answers.
Johnson hit two free throws to give the Rams a 61-57 lead with 1:16 to play, but Romulus knotted the score again with 31 seconds left. Johnson, a 6-foot-6 sub, was fouled again with 7.6 seconds to play.
His first free throws went off the back of the rim. He second fell to give Rockford a 62-61 lead. But Romulus still had hope – until Caywood dashed it a bit by stealing the inbounds pass.
Rockford did miss two more free throws after that. But with only 3.4 seconds left, the Eagles couldn’t set up much more than the final 3-point try.
Johnson and Caywood both finished with 11 points, while senior guard Scott Nikodemski had 12. Junioe Elbert Matthews and senior Aveon Simmons led Romulus with 15 apiece, and Lee added 13.
The Eagles have now made at least the Semifinals in four of the last eight seasons – but Friday’s loss was the latest in a frustrating run. Romulus lost by one point in its 2009 Semifinal and by two in overtime in 2008. The Eagles made the Class A Final in 2005, but lost by three.
“It’s hard to do. I can say that, because we were ranked No. 1 in the state the last two years and didn’t make it here,” Romulus coach Nate Oats said. “So I’m happy we got here this year, but it’s not real satisfying anymore to get here. … I’m a little bit tired of getting here and not getting it done.”
Click for box score or to watch the game and press conferences at MHSAA.tv.
PHOTO: Rockford center Ivy Johnson (44) blocks the path of Romulus senior Aveon Simmons (5) during Friday's Semifinal. (Photo courtesy of Terry McNamara Photography.)
Class B: One More for Lakeshore
March 23, 2012
EAST LANSING – Stevensville Lakeshore coach Sean Schroeder had talked with his team this season about taking another step as a program.
He echoed that with a little more fire at halftime of Friday’s Class B Semifinal at the Breslin Center.
The Lancers led by three with just 16 minutes separating them from the first championship game berth in school history. But Muskegon Heights sophomore Mike Davis had scored 15 points and looked more than capable of carrying his team back to a second-straight Final.
“(No.) 24 had to stop scoring. He was keeping them in the game,” Lakeshore senior guard Loren Johnson said. “The effort was lacking. We really pride ourselves in defense, and we were really showing a lack of effort on the court.”
Now the Lancers have another big thing in which to take pride as well – and will be back at Breslin one more time this weekend.
Lakeshore got tighter on defense and bigger on offense and pulled away from Muskegon Heights for a 59-46 win. The No. 7 Lancers (24-2) will play No. 1 Lansing Sexton in the Final at 8 p.m. Saturday.
Lakeshore last played in a Semifinal in 2007, when it lost 49-42 to Country Day. Its other Semifinals were in 1995 and 1981.
“We really never could get over this hump. As a program and as a school, it’s something we really talked about, how nice it would be to at least get to the final game,” Schroeder said. “I don’t think our kids came here (in 2007) expecting to win, just ‘Oh my gosh, we made it here. It’s awesome.’ And that’s common for high school kids. But one of the things we talked about after Tuesday night was let’s get there and win.”
And that meant stopping Davis.
The 6-foot-4 sophomore forward entered the week averaging 10.5 points per game, but surpassed that 50 seconds into the second quarter. And Heights (20-7) needed that effort – it found out Wednesday that leading scorer Juwon Martin (15.8 ppg) would miss the Semifinal after suffering an injury Tuesday.
“It was a devastating blow, but we’re a no-excuse team. That’s been our motto all year,” Muskegon Heights coach Keith Guy said. “We just kept fighting at it.”
On the other bench, Schroeder more or less subbed in if a defender let Davis take a shot. He eventually settled on senior forward Jordan Avery as his stopper, and it paid off – Davis got far fewer looks, and scored only six points during the second half.
The Lancers, meanwhile, went ahead 37-35 with 5:08 to go in the third quarter and then launched a 16-3 run that Heights couldn’t match.
“We had to find different ways to try to get me open. In the first half I was just playing, trying to get our offense going. In the second half … they pretty much almost stopped me,” Davis said.
“(But) I learned that anything I put my mind to I can do it, especially on the basketball court where I think I’m one of the best people on the court at any time.”
Davis did finish with 21 points total. Senior Ryan Avery led Lakeshore with 20, while Johnson had 13 and senior center Alex Klunder had 10.
Click for box score or to watch the game and press conferences at MHSAA.tv.
PHOTO: Lakeshore junior Keith Brushwyler battles for the ball during Friday's Semifinal. (Photo courtesy of Terry McNamara Photography.)