EAST LANSING – Forget about the value of running up huge point totals. The only thing that mattered to Rockford's boys basketball team was staying alive to fight another day.

Despite being held to their lowest point total of the season, the resilient Rams made enough key plays down the stretch to knock off Auburn Hills Avondale 38-35 in Friday's first Division 1 Semifinal at the Breslin Center.

The 38 points were the fewest scored by Rockford (24-4), seven less than the team totaled in its regular-season finale against Grand Haven and just the fifth time the Rams had scored fewer than 60 points in a game this season.

No problem, said Rams coach Kyle Clough, whose team advanced to Saturday's 12:15 p.m. championship game.

"It shows we have various strengths against a team like Avondale, which is electrifying. They took away some of the things we're good at," Clough said. "We didn't know about scoring (how many) points, but it could've been 10-9 as long as we can play tomorrow."

Rockford nearly let a 34-29 lead with four minutes left in the game slip away as the Yellowjackets turned two turnovers into two layups to cut the margin to 34-33 with 52 seconds remaining. But the Rams' Jake Bascom broke away with a clutch dunk with 50 seconds to go, and Avondale missed a potential game-winning layup with two seconds left. Josh Bascom sealed the win with two free throws.

The Yellowjackets' last lead was 23-22 with 2:21 left in the third quarter, although they did tie the game 27-27 during the first minute of the last quarter.

The win upped Rockford's record in games decided by eight points or fewer to 10-2, an impressive number for a team that starts two sophomores and a freshman. Clough said much of the credit goes to the Rams' two senior starters – Bascom, who had 13 points, and guard Dylan Gross, who had 12.

"Dylan and Jake are both three-year starters, so that's a lot of comfort," Clough said. "We won a couple games early, and that helped build our confidence."

Sophomore forward Josh Bascom said experience isn't the only factor in success.

"We're built for the now," he said. "There have been a lot of games where it's been a five-point game and we know what we have to do to win. We trust our teammates to make the right plays."

Jake Bascom said he and Gross have thrived in the role of senior leaders.

"I think they look to us to get through a tough year," he said. "We've had some great games, some battles this year, and we know what we have to do to win."

Jaidon Bourgeois led Avondale with 12 points.

Yellowjackets first-year coach Aaron Fox said it wasn't as much poor shooting by either club that led to the low point totals as it was strong defense. Avondale made only 1 of 14 3-point attempts while Rockford shot just 40 percent (14 of 35) from the floor.

"It was a hard-fought game. We made a couple mistakes at the end, and it kind of took us out of it," Fox said. "Rockford is a very disciplined team, and that's always a struggle for us. We've worked on it and we did some good things, but there were some things we'd like back.

"I thought we executed well, we just missed (a shot) at the end. Against a team like Rockford, little things are magnified. It's all about doing the little things against a high-caliber team like Rockford."

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PHOTOS (Top) Rockford’s Jace Opoku-Agyeman lines up to take a shot while defended by Avondale’s Maxwell Muhl on Friday. (Middle) Avondale’s Qualaeb Ross (3) gets up a shot in the lane. (Photos by Adam Sheehan/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)