February 2020 ROAR

RISING TO GREATER HEIGHTS
Rams Varsity Team Grows with Season
JEANNIE GREGORY
ROAR Editor
Every Rockford coach knows how tough the OK Red is. In
fact, most coaches in the whole state of Michigan know. It’s the
conference plenty of people point to when discussing which
one is the toughest. Each coach plots out a strategy for how
they are going to attack and combat the stiffest competition.
Rams boys varsity basketball head coach Kyle Clough is assisted
by the talented duo of Joe Estrada and Joe Trolla. Neither
are strangers to basketball, bringing their experience with
them to help Clough solidify his vision. They talk constantly as
they tackle the season.
The team started the season by taking on the best of the
best in the area and started 1-6. He has his eye on playing at the
next level. Clough talks about his plan of attack for the 2019-20
season practically and honestly.
“I think most people probably think I am the dumbest
coach in America,” Clough shares. “Who the heck schedules
those first seven games? There were times where I asked myself
that, too. But at the end of the day, our goal here is to play on
the biggest stage, against the best competition we can. We are
not going to shy away from playing big time players or teams.
We want our program measured against the best, and we want
our players to have platforms to perform and earn recognition
if they have aspirations of playing at the next level.”
Clough knew heading in it would be a true test for his team.
He also knew his answers of how this team was going to do
moving forward, even if they did suffer losses, was going to be
provided by their play.
“I do think the early season schedule has benefited us some.
When you’ve played Muskegon, Union, Christian, Wyoming
and others, you really won’t see anything better. If you handle
those experiences the right way, they can really benefit you.
More importantly, I think we proved in that early season schedule
that we were close. If we had been completely outplayed or
beat up on by those teams it could have broken us, but that
wasn’t the case. We had a great chance to win each game in the
pre-season. So, I think our kids built on that, maintained an
unbreakable spirit, and now after a couple wins, are playing
with a confidence. Still a long way to go, and every game in
our division is a grind so we won’t probably know the overall
impact until the end of this thing.”
The Rams did compete well. They were close in a good
number of those games. They fell to a current 8-1 Grand Rapids
Union team by just one point and turned immediately around
to hold a high-scoring East Grand Rapids team who had been
scoring an average of 68 points to just 37, an amazing display
of defensive skill.
Gut-checks, to be sure. And, Clough knows it was hard for
his team to keep their heads up through it all.
“I’m very proud that we were able to keep our focus and
block the noise. These kids live in an environment that isn’t
very conducive to battling through adversity.”
Alex Varady connects for a basket in recent basketball action.. ~
Photo by “Papa” Razzi Sports Photography
12 ROAR MAGAZINE FEBRUARY, 2020