Romulus needed a spark.
The Eagles trailed Fordson by two with 15 seconds remaining in the first half. Junior point guard D’Angelo Hansbro launched a 30 footer, nothing but net. Hansbro gave the Eagles a 17-16 halftime advantage. In the first 16 minutes of the game, the Eagles committed nine team turnovers, shot 7-19 from the field, and converted on only one of eight free throw attempts.
“It probably was the shot at the buzzer,” Hansbro said which sparked momentum for the second half. “Gave me a little momentum and my teammates just told me to keep attacking.”
According to Hansbro, Romulus is a team which thrives in the open court, with exceptional guards and athletes. Romulus nearly doubled their first half scoring output in the third quarter alone. Romulus and Fordson exchanged seven lead changes throughout the third stanza. And once again, Hansbro concluded the third the same way he did the second, a three with time winding down to give Romulus a 32-29 advantage entering the fourth.
“We just didn’t want to give them any momentum,” D’Angelo said was the strategy into gaining a third quarter advantage. “So we had to play Romulus basketball, and that’s play in transition.”
The fourth quarter was complete domination by Romulus. The Eagles opened the stanza on a 15 to five run in the opening 3:15, capped off once again by a D’Angelo Hansbro three, his third of the second half. Teammate and senior Jaylin Walker scored 12 points in the fourth quarter, to aid Romulus in building a lead as large as 19 in the final minutes of play.
Hansbro and Walker accounted for 42 of the team’s 58 points. Hansbro led Romulus with 22 points, 17 in the second half, and five rebounds, while the Kent State bound Walker added 20 points and six rebounds.
“It’s hard honestly.” Hansbro had to say about stopping the combination of him and Walker. “I think because if we’re in attack mode and confident, I think our team will feed off our energy, and will become hard to beat.”
A key to Romulus gaining an advantage in the second half was the team’s game plan of Fordson senior guard Moe Zahr. Zahr, the leading scorer for the Tractors, scored only three of his 20 points in the fourth, and shot 9-20 from the field the whole game.
“I think we did a good job of getting ball pressure on him,” Hansbro said was the game plan on Zahr. “Making him pass the ball more, but he is good honestly.”
The Western Wayne Athletic Conference Blue division is a three team race between Romulus, Belleville, and Fordson. With the win, Romulus is now in sole possession of first. Friday’s game against rival and second place Belleville will be important in the divisional race, however, the team will also return with the services of senior center Rio Washington, who has sat out the past couple of games for an undisclosed reason.
The Prep Ball Report 
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