Romeo staves off Rochester’s upset bid
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
LAKE ORION — As a conference champion in the regular season, Romeo was favored to win Wednesday’s Class A district semifinal with Rochester. But even the Bulldogs found the path a little too close for comfort.
Locked in a tight tussle with upset-minded Rochester, Romeo outscored the Falcons 8-1 inside the final 3:50, including going 5-of-6 from the foul line in the final 44 seconds, to oust upstart Rochester, 32-25, in the first district semifinal at Lake Orion.
Romeo (14-8), champions of the MAC Red Division, advanced to the district finals Friday at Lake Orion, where they will meet Rochester Stoney Creek at 7 p.m. Stoney Creek defeated Lake Orion in the second semifinal to advance.
“At times it almost seemed that we were disinterested,” admitted Romeo coach Connie Hernden. “We got up 15-2, but I’ve seen this team get up on a big lead and let the other team get back (into the game) and make themselves feel good about themselves.
“We waited to the last part of the fourth quarter to start doing the things we needed to do,” added Hernden. “It’s kind of disappointing. I’m glad we won and its great we’re in the district finals, but we should have got there a different way.”
Rochester senior guard Kristin Garr’s jumper in traffic with 6:34 to play tied the game at 24-24.
Romeo senior guard Shannon McIntyre answered by nailing her only field goal of the game with 3:50 to play, canning a triple from the top of the key to put the Bulldogs up for good at 27-24.
Rochester’s Isha Williams answered with a free throw to cut the deficit to 27-25 with 3:42 left, but the Falcons would not score again.
“We tried to do everything offensively tonight and nothing would go in,” said Hernden. “Credit to Rochester. Their kids got back on defense quickly and they knew exactly what to do to stop us. They did it to a tee. We missed some shots in front of the basket. There was a time where we had three offensive rebounds and no one could put the ball in the basket.”
Romeo finished the night a cold 9-for-36 from the floor (25 percent), made only one three-pointer and went 13-for-21 from the foul line. The Bulldogs did force 20 turnovers, out-rebounded Rochester 30-21 and held the Falcons to just 9-for-42 shooting (21.4 percent) to keep them at bay.
Flynn a fourth-year varsity player, scored a game-high 16 points, totaling half of Romeo’s points. Leah Konieczki added six points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots for the Bulldogs, while Lauren Bright, a 6-foot-4 sophomore, had four points, six rebounds and a pair of blocks.
Williams finished with nine points and five rebounds and Garr also twined nine points with four steals and four assists for the Falcons, who finished the season 3-18.
Although Rochester scored the first two points, Romeo looked to run away with the game, ending the first quarter with an 11-0 run. The Bulldogs led 15-2 with 7:05 left to play in the second quarter before Rochester slowly clawed back to within seven points (21-14) at the break.
In the third quarter the Falcons used an 8-3 run to close to within 24-22 with eight minutes to play and putting themselves in a position to spring the upset. Rochester did so without the services of 6-1 senior center Catherine Steffens, the Falcons’ leading scorer and rebounder who was sidelined in a walking boot due to a stress fracture in her foot.
“Adversity has been a thing for us all year,” said Rochester coach Adam Shelton. “We have some young girls and we played in a really tough league. We found out Tuesday that our senior (Steffens), who is our leading scorer, was not going to play tonight. Yet the others stepped up. They worked hard all year I’m proud of their effort.
“(On) the offensive end we struggled,” continued Shelton. “Romeo is a good team, but a bounce here or a bounce there, it could be a different outcome. We were still in the game with two minutes left.”
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Category: High School, Oxford, Rochester
