Romeo hammers Stoney Creek for district championship

BY DAN STICKRADT

SENIOR EDITOR

dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com

LAKE ORION — Ashley Flinn and Shanyn McIntyre have been a part of one of Romeo’s most successful streaks in girls basketball.  The senior duo more than made sure their tenure with the Bulldogs would not end Friday night.

TOURNAMENT BLOCKADE: Romeo's Ashley Flinn and the Bulldogs blocked Rochester Stoney Creek's Gabby Yurik and the Cougars in Friday's Class A district finals, 50-30. Staff Photo | Larry McKee, www.lmckeephotography.com For a gallery of this event, please visit L McKee Photography at www.lmckeephotography.com

Flinn finished with 16 points, nine rebounds and two blocked shots and McIntyre added seven points, four assists and four rebounds, while junior Sarah Kort did a fine defensive number on Rochester Stoney Creek all-state guard Gabby Yurik. Those efforts helped Romeo hammer the Cougars 50-30 in a Class A district championship at Lake Orion High School.

After going two decades without a district title, Flinn, McIntyre and the five seniors have aided the Bulldogs’ second district trophy in three years. Additionally, Romeo avenged a loss to Stoney Creek in last year’s district semifinals.

In that contest, Yurik torched the Bulldogs for 26 points. This time around finished with 12 points and five steals, but did not make a single 3-pointer and was.

“Revenge is sweet,” smiled McIntyre. “We knew that it might take more than one player to slow (Yurik. Sarah (Kort) did a great job and we did what we could to help here. But Sarah deserves the credit. She did a great job.

“We just gel so well. Our senior class is so close,” continued McIntyre. “Our coach tells us exactly what to do to get us motivated. We’ve been able to turn this around It’s been great.”

Romeo (15-7) advanced to the Class A regional semifinals Tuesday at Waterford Mott at 5:30 p.m. against the Auburn Hills Avondale, which torched Troy 57-38 Friday for a district trophy. Southfield Lathrup and Detroit Renaissance play in the other regional semifinal.

“I can’t say enough about these seniors,” said Connie Hernden, Romeo’s veteran coach. “I don’t think they wanted things to end tonight.

“This is a culmination of all the hard by the girls,” added Hernden. “I have to mention Sara Kort’s name right off the bat. She just played phenomenal defense. Sara played Gabby Yurik tight and did not let her get hardly any open looks at the basket. She played Gabby to perfection tonight. We did a great job defensively as a team.”

After winning its first two district games last season, Stoney Creek fell in the district title bout to Lake Orion, 53-48. This time the Cougars (13-9) were hoping to get over the hump.

It didn’t happen.

Romeo opened the game with a 16-4 run before the first quarter was even completed and never looked back. The Bulldogs forced 15 turnovers, out-rebounded the Cougars 41-27, blocked seven shots and consistently frustrated Stoney Creek’s shooters all night.

Romeo, champions of the MAC Red Division, came out on fire. After being held off the scoreboard for the first 2:09, the Bulldogs outscored Stoney Creek 18-6 in the first quarter.

The Cougars slowly closed back into the game on the Bulldogs, getting to within eight points on one occasion in the second period, before Romeo settled for a 28-17 halftime advantage.

Romeo out-rebounded Stoney Creek 22-15 and held the Cougars to a dismal 5-for-29 shooting performance over the first 16 minutes.

The Bulldogs opened the second half with an 8-0 run and simply pulled away after that point, rarely giving the Cougars any good looks at the bucket.

Normally a fine 3-point shooting and perimeter shooting team, Stoney Creek was 1-of-16 from the field in the third quarter alone and finished a season-low 9-for-55 percent from the floor (16.4 percent). The game was well in hand through three quarters of play, where Romeo held a commanding 46-22 advantage thanks to an 18-5 third-quarter run.

It was a chilling end to a season for a team that was red hot coming into the contest, as Stoney Creek was 9-2 in its previous 11 games. Against Romeo, the Cougars were also just 2-for-14 from outside the three-point arc in the game.

“We didn’t shoot the ball well. But I think it was our defense that hurt us,” said Stoney Creek coach Brad Crighton. (Romeo) did a nice job with Gabby, keeping her out of the lane. Gabby is banged up a little bit. She had to do so much for us during the season. It was questionable she was even going to play for us tonight. But she played.

“Our defense let us down,” continued Crighton. “We got within six or seven in the second quarter and then we gave up too many easy baskets,” he said. “Our shots weren’t falling, either. Plus, we had a lot of turnovers. It was a perfect storm.”

To submit information to www.northoaklandsports.com, e-mail dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com.  To advertise, e-mail advertising@northoaklandsports.com

Tags: featured, girls, girls basketball

Category: Prep Wraps, Rochester Stoney Creek