High School Hoops: Romeo Eliminates Rochester Girls

Romeo eliminated girls basketball team from the playoffs on Wednesday night by a score of 32-25. 

Rochester played tough in the final stretch to tie the game at 24, but Romeo turned on the jets at the end to move on toward the championship on Friday against Stoney Creek.

The Hero: Ashley Flinn led the Bulldogs with 16 points and gave her team a pep talk with the game tied in the fourth quarter during a timeout.

The Turning Point: After being down 11-2 at the end of the first quarter, Rochester fought hard to battle back and tie the game at 24 in the fourth quarter.

After multiple possessions by each team and a few timeouts, Romeo ended up scoring some baskets to take back the lead and keep it.

The Quote: “Adversity has been a thing all year,” Rochester head coach Adam Sheldon said about missing his leading scorer, Catherine Steffens, due to a foot injury.

“We were up 15-2, but I’ve seen this team do this all year" Romeo head coach Connie Hernden said.  "We wait until the last part of the fourth quarter to do things how we should have done them all game.”

I give credit to Rochester, there were parts of the game where they outhustled and outplayed us."

The Bottom Line: Rochester showed strength on defense and hustled to every loose ball, but missed shots at the end of the game ended the Falcons’ season.

After battling to tie the game early in the forth quarter, they failed to make a field goal for the remainder of the game.

“I watched them play as a team, the longer we stayed in it, the more we started to believe we could come back,” Sheldon said.  “They worked hard all year and I’m very proud of them."

Key Stat: Flinn shot 7-8 from the free throw line and hit a three-pointer for a team-high 16 points.

Leah Konieczki added another six points for the Bulldogs, shooting 4-6 from the line.

Rochester’s Isha Williams scored 9 points, shooting 5-9 from the free-throw line.

Who’s next? Romeo plays Stoney Creek on Friday night for the district championship.