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Senior guard Richard Roth readies for a shot during the fourth quarter of Romeo's game against Lake Orion on Jan. 15.

(Observer photo by Mike Nicley)

Younger players step up to
challenge due to injuries

Cushingberry ends Lake Orion
game with season-high 40 points

by RICK DESOTELL
Observer Sports Writer

      Romeo High School senior Blake Cushingberry continues to prove why he is considered one of the most complete basketball players in the state of Michigan, finishing with a season-high 40 points, including five 3-pointers, to lead the Bulldogs to a 90-64 non-league win over highly regarded Lake Orion last Tuesday at Romeo.
       Cushingberry, who is in the running for Mr. Basketball or the State's MVP, also finished with 10 rebounds, five assists, three steals and blocked one shot. Cushingberry was 12-of-18 from the floor for 67 percent (five of seven from 3-point range) and 11-of-11 at the free throw line.
       "Lake Orion is a very good team so we were looking forward to the test,'' Romeo Coach Dale Teller said. "We played with purpose and urgency. Blake was a man out there and was darn near unstoppable. Blake will always be our leader but more important a lot of other players stepped up tonight and really helped out. Both Joe Wilson and Brent Newsom had great defensive games.''
       Romeo dominated the Dragons right from the start outscoring them 25-13 in the first quarter and 20-11 in the second to take a 45-24 lead into the locker room. Lake Orion faired a little better in the second half but was still outscored by the Bulldogs 45-40.
       Senior point guard Nick Kosovich finished with 14 points, 10 assists, four steals and five rebounds for Romeo. Nate Saliga (eight rebounds) and Derrick Gaffke (five rebounds) had 10 points each; Wilson had nine points and four assists, Kyle Maxwell had four points, Ricky Roth had three points for the Bulldogs.
       "We're down to 10 players now because of injuries so the rotation has changed a little bit and it's good to see some younger players step up,'' said Teller. "Kyle Maxwell, Rick Roth, Ryan Thomas, Brandon Hoenicke have all played very well. Nick Kosovich is doing a great job of leading the offense and Nate Saliga is starting to play more consistent and gaining confidence with every game. If Nate keeps improving he will be a big part of our season.''
       Romeo 76, Dakota 43:
       Thursday, at Dakota, Cushingberry continued his torrid shooting scoring 16 first quarter points on 5-of-6 shooting, 3-of-4 from 3-point range to lead the Bulldogs to their fifth straight win.
       Cushingberry finished with a team-high 23 points on 7-of-12 shooting (58 percent) from the floor, 4-of-7 from 3-point range (57 percent) and was 5-of-5 at the free throw line.
       "It's a good thing that Blake is so hot because we are down to nine healthy players (Brent Newsom is out with an ankle injury)," said Teller. "Once again younger players have really stepped it up and have played well. To be honest we expected they would as they have demonstrated in the past games and in practice they are very capable young men, especially on defense. Rick Roth and Ryan Thomas held one of Dakota's top scorers to seven points (none in the second half) and Joe Wilson held there top scorer to just two points, 16 under his average.''
       Saliga and Kosovich had 11 points each for the Bulldogs.
       Thomas and Wilson had seven points each; Maxwell and Roth had six apiece and Hoenicke had five points for Romeo which improved to 6-1 in the MAC Red and 9-1 overall.
       "This past week has again demonstrated how important `TEAM' is in basketball,'' said Teller. "With all of the injuries a lot of teams would have been in trouble and have had some problems. However we stress all the time to our younger players to be ready and continue to practice hard. They have done this and there play in these games has further demonstrated that. Needless to say we are all very proud of the way the team has handled the adversity.''

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