KENTWOOD, MI – A potential boys basketball state championship preview lived up to the hype, as No. 1 East Lansing needed overtime to defeat No. 2 Rockford, 80-71, in Saturday’s GottaGetIt Hoop Classic at East Kentwood High School.

The four-game slate featured some of the state’s top teams and a multitude of Mr. Basketball candidates, but the headliner stood out thanks to an unforgettable finish that saw Rockford stage a stunning comeback, before East Lansing put the Rams away behind a big night from KJ Torbert.

The 6-foot-2 guard, Bowling Green signee and son of former Michigan State All-Big Ten guard Kelvin Torbert scored 39 points, including eight in overtime, in front of a capacity crowd of more than 2,000 spectators.

“It was No. 1 vs. No. 2, so we knew it was going to be a dog fight until the end, but we had to battle throughout the whole game to get the win,” Torbert said.

PHOTOS: See our gallery from the East Lansing vs. Rockford showdown

Torbert’s hot-shooting night included five 3-pointers, but his biggest bucket of regulation came near the rim, when he converted a floater in the lane to tie the game at 67 with 10 seconds left in regulation.

Then, he showed off his defensive tenacity by stealing the ball near halfcourt and racing to the rim for a contested reverse layup opportunity that couldn’t quite make it over the rim before the fourth-quarter buzzer sounded.

“I’ve been built for moments like that, so when he cleared the court out, and it was just me and him (Rockford guard Eli Wolfe), I knew I had to get a stop for us, so that’s what I had to do,” Torbert said.

A little tired, but undeterred, Torbert scored his team’s first eight points of the extra session, allowing East Lansing to pull away and improve to 11-0 on the year.

“I was a little tired, but I just had to push into an extra gear and get us this win today,” he said.

“He just had that will and determination not to lose,” East Lansing coach Ray Mitchell added. “He was very upset he missed that bucket at the end of regulation, and then we were just a little disappointed in how we executed in the fourth quarter. When we got up, we didn’t execute our game plan, so we had to just get refocused, and when it’s winning time, you’ve got to figure out how to attack the basket, and he’s one of the best finishers in the state.”

East Lansing by as many as 10 points midway through the fourth quarter, but Rockford rallied behind back-to-back 3-pointers by sophomore Eli Wolfe and freshman Jace Opoku-Agyeman, which made it a 63-59 game.

Wolfe netted two free throws and a layup to draw within two, and a tough layup from sophomore Josh Bascom tied the score at 65 with 1:12 left in regulation.

Another Bascom layup assisted by his older brother, senior forward and Central Michigan commit Jake Bascom, gave Rockford its first lead of the second half at 67-65, but Torbert and the Trojans had enough gas left in the tank to withstand the Rockford surge.

“We’ve got a great team, and we’ve got a bunch of winners, and I honestly had no doubt in my mind that we were going to get back and make a little push there and have a chance to win,” Rockford coach Kyle Clough said. “For us to take the lead like we did, that’s an unbelievable thing for us to do there, given where we were at midway through the fourth quarter.

“So, it’s a good experience for us, and it challenged us, but I think we’ve got to do a better job as a coaching staff of getting some things buckled up defensively.”

Rockford entered the contest allowing 52 points per game, but allowed a combined 59 points to Torbert and East Lansing junior teammate Kingston Thomas, another MSU legacy, whose father, David Thomas, played on the Spartans’ 2000 national championship team. The younger Thomas is also a Division-I recruit with an offer from MSU.

“Obviously, if we played (Torbert) again, I think we’d do some things differently defensively,” Clough said. “You let a guy score 39 points, and people are probably questioning what the coach is doing on the sideline, continuing to let him just get the ball, but we wanted to put our team to the fire a little bit tonight and see what our weaknesses are and see what we need to do a little bit better against a team like that.

“Obviously, KJ and Kingston are Division-I players, and we just didn’t do a good enough job tonight of really buckling in and making a little bit tougher, but sometimes in basketball, you’ve got to give credit where credit’s due, and KJ made some unbelievable shots, and 39 points on a stage like that shows you what kind of player he is.”

Senior DQ Stewart rounded out East Lansing’s double-digit scorers with 15 points, including a 3-point play late in overtime that put the finishing touches on the Trojans’ marquee win.

Jake Bascom led Rockford with 24 points, including all four of his team’s points in overtime, while Wolfe added 23, including nine in the fourth quarter during the Rams’ comeback.

Opoku-Agyeman rounded out Rockford’s double-digit scorers with 13 points, including a trio of 3-pointers, and Josh Bascom chipped in nine points.

Despite his coming out on the losing side, Clough said he was grateful for the opportunity to play an opponent as good as East Lansing on this type of stage so early in the season.

“I’ve been around here a long time, and there’s a lot of people trying to do showcases, and this is the best one we’ve been in,” said Clough, now in his 10th year atop the Rockford program. “This best one that we’ve seen in the state as far as the crowd and the teams, and when you get asked to play in a game like this, it’s a privilege, and our program has earned that, and our kids have earned it.

“I think it lived up to the hype and probably was a lot of fun to watch. Probably not as fun to be in our locker room, but for a midseason game, to be able to give the fans and the players this opportunity, it’s awesome.”

Rockford falls to 9-1 overall and has another tough test up next, as the Rams host an East Kentwood squad that defeated Detroit Martin Luther King in the third game of the GottaGetIt Hoop Classic. Then, the Rams continue OK Red play at undefeated Hudsonville on Friday.

“I think the OK Red’s the best it’s ever been, so there’s no rest for the weary,” Clough said. “We’ve got to turn around and just be ready to go.”

East Lansing, the defending Division 1 state champ, improves to 11-0 heading into Friday’s conference contest at Okemos.

The Trojans are sure to keep their No. 1 ranking next week, and while Rockford could slip a couple spots, Mitchell said he wouldn’t mind seeing the Rams again, and that matchup would take place in the state finals.

“I definitely believe they have a chance to be there, and we do, too, but it’s one game at a time,” Mitchell said. “… We all have potential, but we have a lot to get better at.

“… If we see them again, that means we’re at the Breslin, so that’s our goal, but you’ve got to get there.”