Jared Purcell, www.mlive.com
Romeo Weems will enter next week’s boys basketball state tournament with a truckload of momentum.
In Weem’s final regular season game of his high school career on Wednesday night, the 6-foot-7 super senior wing collected a quadruple-double to lead New Haven to a 74-58 win over Detroit Edison Public School Academy, the defending Class C state champions.
Weems’ amazing stat line consisted of 34 points, 12 rebounds, 10 steals and 10 blocks. He also added 5 assists.
Oh, and he surpassed the 2,000-point career mark in the game as well. His senior teammate, Ronald Jeffery III, surpassed 1,000 career points in the game too.
NEW HAVEN BASKETBALL@RocketCountry
*Weems 34pts 12reb 5ast 10stl 10Blk (Quadruple Double)
*Jeffery 29pts 5rb 3ast 5stl 2bk
*Payne 9pts 4reb 5ast
*Wiles 2pts 4reb
*Brooks 4ast 3stl
*Farrior 3ast 3reb
*France 2reb 2ast
“Just seeing him have the year he’s having this year to top off his career at New Haven, it’s truly special to watch,” New Haven coach Tedaro France said.
Already considered a favorite to win this year’s Hal Schram Mr. Basketball award, Weems has already built an excellent résumé. Before Wednesday night’s game, Weems was averaging 28.1 points, 11.5 rebounds, 4.1 assists 4.4 steals, 2.0 blocks. He is signed to play at DePaul next year.
Leading New Haven to a Class B state title in 2017 and the Class B semifinals last year, Weems leads the Rockets into the newly classified Division 2 state tournament with a 19-1 record. He helped lead New Haven to a Macomb Area Conference White Division title and also claimed the MAC Red/White tournament championship.
“When your teammates love playing with you, that’s when you know you’re a special player,” France said. “He’s just a special kid.”
As amazing as a quadruple-double is, Weems collected one last year as well with 21 points, 16 rebounds, 12 assists and 10 steals in a region championship win over Detroit Country Day. He also had 7 blocks in that game to finish just shy of a quintuple-double.