Chelsea Comes Up Short in D2 Quarterfinal Loss

A furious fourth-quarter rally came up just short as the Chelsea boys' basketball team saw its season end with a 68-62 loss to Romulus Summit Academy in the D2 state quarterfinals in Milan Tuesday night. 

Summit Academy has been ranked as high as second in the state in D2 this season, but the Bulldogs gave them all they could handle before running out of gas in the third quarter.

The teams were tied at 11 late in the first quarter when the Dragons launched a shot from midcourt at the buzzer for three to give Summit Academy a 14-11 lead after one.

The Dragons opened the scoring in the second, but the Bulldogs answered with an 8-0 run keyed by back-to-back triples by Regan Plank and Joey Cabana to take a 19-16 lead. 

The teams went back-and-forth and a Jake Stephens triple put Chelsea up two only to have the Dragons answer with a triple of their own for a 27-26 lead at the half.

Chelsea went cold to start the second half and Summit went on a 10-0 run in the third to break open the game, but a lay in by Matt Blanton just before the buzzer cut the lead to 46-38 after three.

The Dragons lead grew to as much as 12 early in the fourth, but Stephens and Cabana put the Bulldogs on their backs with some hot outside shooting and some hard drives to the basket to lead a Chelsea rally.

Stephens would sink five triples in the fourth to lead the Bulldog charge.

Chelsea would draw within five a couple of different times in the fourth behind seven points by Cabana only to have the Dragons answer.

Joey Cabana drives for an acrobatic lay-in against Summit Academy

The Bulldogs would keep chipping away at the Summit lead when Stephens hit his final triple with just under 10 seconds left to cut the Dragons lead to 65-62. The Bulldogs missed a chance to foul after the made three and Summit Academy launched a long pass down court for a breakaway basket and foul to make it a six-point game with four seconds left to seal the win.

Cabana and Stephens combined for all 24 of the Bulldogs points in the fourth quarter. 

Stephens finished with a team-high 27 points, including 17 in the fourth quarter. He finished with eight triples on the night for the Bulldogs.

Cabana finished with 20 hard fought points with most of his points coming with the Dragons all over him for most of the night. 

Blanton scored eight big first half points and finished with 11 for the game, while Plank chipped in with three points and Drew Blanton one. 

Chelsea finished its season which saw the Bulldogs win its first regional title in 23 years with a 21-6 overall record. 

Photos by Mike Williamson