The Romeo Bulldogs could have collapsed after their 8-0 start was erased by the Rochester Adams Highlanders, letting the season end with a whimper.

Instead, after losing that lead in the first half, they battled back, retook the lead, sustained two significant injuries and won the game, 37-33, to advance to the upcoming Division 1 district semifinals round.

“This was a big win because of how it turned out, how it happened, you know, with a couple injuries,” said Romeo head coach Ron LeBlanc.

The Bulldogs scored the first eight points of the game, which was hosted by Stoney Creek HS, but their mood quickly shifted when senior Mya Muschong went down with a leg injury that she wouldn’t return from. Then, Adams cut the lead from eight to four by the end of the first quarter.

They took the lead shortly before halftime, 16-14. Romeo two-way contributor Layla Babich, who oftentimes is the Bulldogs’ primary ballhandler, also had to leave the game with an injury, leaving the Bulldogs down three players to injury — another was out from the start with a sprained ankle — and were now trailing.

The mood wasn’t good in the huddle, LeBlanc said, before senior Aya Mosely grabbed the momentum and completely shifted it back to the Bulldogs with back-to-back buckets before going into the locker room, putting Romeo up 18-16 as opposed to trailing by two.

“That’s definitely a big moment when the momentum is moving,” LeBlanc said. “And yeah, two big plays. It really solidifies where you are in the game a little bit and shows that you’re not just going to collapse. It was one moment that you could say, look, you’re not collapsing. You can do this. That was it. It’s a big, big moment.”

The game never got out of hand with neither team going ahead by more than six points either way. But when Adams took a fourth quarter lead, Romeo junior Sam Sackfield was there — she scored six of her eight points in the fourth quarter, helping jump-start the Bulldog offense to survive the elimination game.

LeBlanc also credited the leadership of Claire Carmedy and Lydia Hill as factors in the win.

“Adams, they’re tough,” LeBlanc said. “I mean, Kailee (Huffman) and Layla (Tomezak) … they’re two very good ball players, and we were able to, you know, minimize Layla in the fourth quarter. She didn’t score in the fourth and really, our defense really stepped up in that second half.”

Huffman scored nine points and Tomezak was held to five.

Tight games have been a commonality for the Highlanders this season, who finish with a 10-11 record.

Adams head coach Joe Malburg said that the mental toughness from that kind of slate helped them in Monday’s game, but that the 8-0 start set them behind.

“It was a really, really difficult start, because we put a lot of time into a game plan,” Malburg said. “And whether it was just the adrenaline or the moment, we kind of, we were impatient and undisciplined, which is very unlike us, and they were able to build an eight point lead, which we were playing catch up the whole night from.”

The Highlanders battled with injuries for most of the season, including with Sammy Hawkins, who returned on Monday from a 16-game absence to score three points.

“What I’m most proud of with this team is the culture that they’ve built,” Malburg said. “They deeply care about each other, they support each other, they include everybody in everything they do as a team. And you know, it’s a very difficult locker room at the end of the season, and whenever you lose.

“I’m happy to have a group that, you know, while there’s going to be some tears in there, it’s going to be because of how much they cared about each other and how much they cared about putting their best foot forward for Adams this season. So incredibly proud of them.”

Romeo’s Mosley scored a game-high 13 points, spread out almost dead-even across all four quarters. Sackfield had eight and Babich had six before leaving the game.

The Bulldogs (10-13) will face 20-2 Eisenhower in the next round of the district tournament on Wednesday, March 5 at Stoney Creek. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m.

“You can prep (for Eisenhower) with X’s and O’s, but you can’t replicate what they do on the court, right?” LeBlanc said. “We have girls that can go where we want to go and try to do what they do, but it’s not going to be the same thing, right? The speed is going to be completely different. So, you know, it’s going to take some composure. We’ll have to see where we are with injuries.”

The second semifinal game on Monday was won by host Stoney Creek, who took ended Utica’s season with a 58-23 win.