[Stardust]

Just when it looked as if Holy Cross had shut down Beechwood star Brian Romes, the Tigers and Romes came roaring to life in the fourth quarter Wednesday to capture a key district win, 53-45.

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On consecutive possessions, Romes hit a jumper in the lane and a 3-pointer to stretch the lead to seven. Until that point, Holy Cross held Romes to one field goal through the first three quarters.

"Brian came up huge tonight when we needed him. There is no doubt about that," Beechwood coach Rick Shumate said.

Romes capped off his fourth-quarter spurt with a breakaway dunk in the game's final minute to seal the victory. He finished with 14 points.

"Our offense is best at getting up and down the floor and (Holy Cross) didn't let us do that tonight," Romes said. "We finally figured it out at the end and the ball ended up in my hands and I was able to get an open shot."

The victory was doubly important because of its seeding implications in the 35th District tournament. With the win, Beechwood locked up the second seed, avoiding a first-round matchup with Holmes, the area's top team.