FeedsRomulus wins round 2 against Belleville
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Romulus junior Mario Crawford makes a crucial layup against Belleville, helping the Eagles to a 61-56 home victory on Tuesday.A serious case of deja vu settled into Romulus High School as the Eagles hosted arch-rival Belleville last Tuesday night.
The second round between the two Mega Red behemoths was eerily similar to the first.
In the first contest on Jan. 30, Romulus had an eight-point lead that Belleville extinguished with a 16-5 tear to eventually win the game.
On Tuesday, Romulus was in a similar situation as they watched Belleville inch back from a 12-point deficit.
Everyone had the same thing on their mind as Belleville went on a 15-3 run in the fourth, tying the game at 53 with 1:30 left to play.
“Not again,” is what Romulus Coach Nate Oats said was flying through head. “It’s been too many times with them.”
Oats’ star junior point guard Dominique Buckley echoed the sentiment:
“I was just hoping it wasn’t a repeat from the last time,” he said.
Belleville Coach Don Hickman lofted pleads to his players and/or the basketball gods.
“Please boys let’s find away to pull this one out,” was going through his mind, he said. “Somebody knock a shot down; somebody make a play.”
This time, however, the ending was a happier one for the Eagles. They held off the Tigers for a 61-56 victory.
The game was nip-and-tuck most of the way, with Romulus taking an 11-10 lead after one quarter and a 32-29 advantage at the half.
Romulus ravaged the first half with fouls. The Eagles racked up eight by the end of the first quarter and, with just less than six minutes remaining in the first half, Belleville was shooting double bonus free throws.
It wasn’t until the third frame when Romulus got something going offensively. Senior center Devin Searcy kicked off a 12-5 run with a rebound score to put the Eagles up, 38-33. Senior Antoine James had back-to-back baskets and a triple by junior forward Will Clyburn made it 46-38. Buckley’s shot put Romulus up by 10 at the end of the quarter.
Searcy opened the fourth with a deuce for the 12-point lead. Then Romulus turnovers and solid defensive stops on Belleville’s side sent the Tigers on their spree. Five different players scored in the 15-3 run. Senior center Anthony Wafer hit a shot with 1:30 left to tie the game at 53.
Buckley hit two free throws after he and junior guard Mario Crawford each hit a basket, edging ahead by six. Belleville’s Caral Dial responded with a triple with eight seconds left to narrow the gap, 59-56, but Romulus sophomore guard Filmore Bouldes sank both of his freebies to put the game away.
“Once again—and I know I sound like a broken record—but my boys battled,” Hickman said. “They didn’t give up. They gave me everything they had. Romulus just made one more play than we did.”
Oats was, needless to say, relieved with the outcome and feels this might be just what his team needed.
“I wish we would have closed it out earlier but Belleville never goes away,” he said. “We had them down 12 and should have put them away but they hung around and hit some big threes and got some big stops when they had to and made us win a close game, which isn’t bad. We need to learn how to win close games and make free throws down the stretch.”
He said a key factor was to keep Marius Williams in check. He scored 30 against Romulus last month. Williams still led the Tigers but with 13. Others stepped up for Belleville. Dial added 12 in the effort. Wafer scored 11 and sophomore guard Kourea Hayes hit for 10.
Romulus had eight different Eagles score. Buckley led the way with 15. Senior guard Rod Walker added 14, including four triples—three of them in the first quarter.
“We just had to believe,” Buckley said. “The press and everybody doubted us, saying we weren’t as good as we were supposed to be but we believed in ourselves and had confidence. It was motivation that they beat us last time so we just had to come out and get win, no matter what.”
