ROMULUS - Michigan's top two teams met Thursday night to close out the regular season in dramatic fashion. In front of a sellout crowd of more than 2,000 fans that included coaches from many of the top programs in the country, No. 2 Romulus (Michigan) High (No. 60 in the most recent RivalsHigh Top 100 boys basketball rankings) edged No. 1 Beverly Hills (Mich.) Country Day (No. 25 in the RivalsHigh 100), 56-54, thanks to a Justin Moss layup with three seconds remaining.
"I think this is one of the most unselfish teams I ever had," Romulus head coach Nate Oats said. "As far as moving the ball and making the extra pass, which we did, we had to make shots at the end and we did."

The Eagles seemed to start the game with a little more energy than Country Day as they jumped out to an 18-12 lead after the first quarter. As would be the story of the game, Romulus was able to get in the middle of the Country Day man-to-man defense via the dribble weave and kick it to open shooters who were spotting up on the arc. Romulus connected three times in the opening quarter from distance including back-to-back 3-pointers from Marcus Trent and another from Derrick Stewart.

"When we played them in the past they played a lot of zone against us. I thought we would see more zone than we did tonight," Oats said. "When they did go zone, we hit threes, which tends to make you not want to go zone."

Country Day (18-2) responded in the second quarter to take a 29-28 lead into the break. Romulus started to cool down from the outside, leading to empty possessions and Country Day transitions. The Yellow Jackets would tie the game at 22-22 at the 4:30 mark thanks to a Carter Elliot basket off an assist from Ray McCallum. Two free throws from Lee Bailey a minute later gave the Yellow Jackets their first lead of the game at 26-24. McCallum finished the first half with 10 points, five rebounds and three assists.

The intensity of the game was heightened in the second half as both teams knew it would be a battle to the end. It was a see-saw contest through the third as Romulus would reclaim a slim 41-40 advantage heading into the fourth.

The fourth quarter belonged to Stewart and Moss as they brought the inside-outside attack that eventually helped Romulus down the stretch. Despite shooting 2-of-6 from behind the arc in the first half, Stewart found his stroke in the second half, hitting 4-of-5 from distance. Meanwhile, Moss would seal the Eagle win by scoring the final six points of the game including the game-winning layup with just three seconds to play.

"We just dug too many holes for ourselves," Country Day head coach Kurt Keener said. "We missed too many free throws early on and we allowed them to get some real good wide-open looks at the threes in the second half."

Country Day finished the game 8-of-15 from the free throw line. McCallum and Williams combined to shoot just 2-of-9.

Stewart finished 6-of-11 from the arc and led Romulus with 20 points. Moss, who missed the last two games due to a bruised knee, posted a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. DeAndray Buckley played a solid all-around game and contributed 11 points.

With the win, Romulus (19-1) broke the school record for most wins in a season. That record was previously held by the 1986 team (18-2) led by Terry Mills.



Amir Williams was not at his best against Romulus
Moss, who was giving up three to four inches in height to Amir Williams, played a physical game which seemed to make Williams uncomfortable in the paint.

"What Romulus lacks in size, they've got a big body in Justin Moss," Keener said. "He kept that body on Amir all night long and they did a great job with their back-side rotation. There were very few times where Amir was able to catch the ball with just one man on him."

McCallum, who didn't have his best game, shot 2-for-5 from the charity stripe and finished with 17 points and 13 rebounds, but also had five turnovers including two crucial offensive fouls late in the fourth that kept Romulus in the ball game. Williams was pretty much non-existent on the night and finished with eight points, seven rebounds, three blocks and shot 0-for-4 from the line.

"This is a good test for us," McCallum said. "We haven't played in a hostile environment like this in a while. The last time we did we lost to Kalamazoo Central, and it just shows us that we need more work and executing when the gym gets loud."

Despite the loss, Country Day will still be the favorites in the Class-B tournament as it looks to capture its first title since 2007. The Yellow Jackets will be in the Clawson District and open with Madison Heights Lamphere at 5 p.m. Monday.

Romulus, meanwhile, will head into the Class-A tournament as the top-ranked team in the state. It will be in the Wayne Memorial District and will play Westland John Glenn at 8 p.m. Monday.

Bryan Everson contributed to this report.Rivals