FeedsBack on track
Romulus beats Country Day for first time
The Romulus Eagle basketball team rediscovered their groove with two must-win games last week.
Romulus improved to 9-9 for the season with victories against Mega Red foe Willow Run last Tuesday and non-league opponent Birmingham Country Day on Friday.
Going into Friday’s match-up, Romulus had never beat Country Day, according to Romulus Coach Nate Oats. The rivalry was a part of Romulus’ regular schedule until the late 1980s. It started again three years ago and the Eagles remained winless.
That was until Friday night when the beat the Yellowjackets, 73-50, on the road.
“They have been struggling a little bit lately but they’re still one of the better teams in the state,” Oats said. “We’ve been defending a lot better lately. We’ve been switching up our presses lately rather than press the entire time and that seems to help.”
Senior guard Rod Walker led the team with 16 points—including four triples. Senior center Devin Searcy racked up 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Junior point guard Dominique Buckley added 13 points and assisted on eight other baskets.
The Eagles had similar success against Willow Run last Tuesday when they trounced the visiting Flyers, 76-42.
Both offense and defense worked for the Eagles. They took a 20-3 lead after one quarter and jumped to a 44-9 advantage at the half. The rest was history.
“They didn’t seem like the Willow Run that I had seen previously,” Oats said. “We came out and really defended well. Willow Run seemed to take a lot of contested shots and didn’t make them.”
Buckley was the only Eagle of the 13 that hit the floor to reach double figures. He finished with 19.
With the win over the Flyers, Romulus remains in the running for at least a piece of the Mega Red conference title. The race could end in a three-way tie between the Eagles (7-3), Ypsilanti (7-2) and Taylor Truman (7-2). Romulus will have to win its last two games against Belleville and Ypsilanti and Ypsilanti would have to beat Truman in order for the Eagles to snatch a piece of the title.
“We still have a shot at it,” Oats said. “All we can do is take care of what we can and see what happens.”
It won’t get any easier for the Eagles after that.
They start the district tournament—hosted at Romulus—next week. Romulus will face off against Ypsilanti at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 6. Belleville tips off against Wayne Memorial at 7:30 p.m. on the same day. If Romulus wins they will face the winner of the Belleville game at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 8.
John Glenn opens the tournament against Ann Arbor Huron at 7 p.m. on Monday, March 5. The winner of that game faces Garden City at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 8. The championship game is slated for 7 p.m. on Saturday, March 10.
“If we can continue defending like we have been,” Oats said, “I think that we can beat anybody that we play.”
