High School Hoops: Adams Beats Romeo to Play Stoney Creek in District Championship

Rochester Adams defeated Romeo 55-43 in a district semifinal to play Stoney Creek in the championship on Friday.

The familiar rowdy Highlander crowd showed up in full force to support their team and school.

On Monday, Adams beat Oxford, the district tournament host, to advance to the semifinal.

The Hero: The Highlander defense.

“We played great defense for 32 minutes,” Adams head coach John Hall said.  “Whenever we go on a run offensively, it’s fueled by what we do on the defensive end.”

The Turning Point: Adams regained the lead before halftime, 20-18, and carried that momentum into the locker room and the second half.

Romeo was forced to play catch-up basketball during the second half and couldn’t quite keep up with all the Highlanders flying around the court.

The Quote: “We’re not the prettiest team, we don’t score flashy, and we don’t have any one great dominant player. But we play hard and we play together,” Hall said.  “I think we do that as good or better than any other team.”

The Bottom Line: Adams outplayed Romeo defensively and offensively to get the championship bid.

Romeo played very physical and didn’t go quietly, but in the end the Highlanders were on top.

Late free throws by Andrew Hammett, Mario Roveda and Akhemji Williams inflated the score of what was a closer, back-and-forth game.

Key Stat: Andrew Hammett led the Highlanders in scoring with 14 points.

Bracketology: Adams plays Stoney Creek for the district championship at 7 p.m.  Friday at Oxford High School.

The Highlanders beat Stoney Creek 70-37 in their previous meeting this season.

“No one on this team expects us to have a score like we did a few weeks ago, they’re (Stoney Creek) a better team than that,” Hall said.