Brighton starts slowly, then ices South Lyon, 6-2

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BRIGHTON — Three days after his team had an off night in Calumet, Brighton hockey coach Paul Moggach had seen enough after the first period Wednesday.

It didn’t help that the Bulldogs were down 2-1 after allowing two power-play goals in a 22-second span late in the period.

“We’d played three bad periods at Calumet, so there were four in a row and we had it heat it up in there,” he said of his between-periods talk with his team. “You can’t play like that. You can’t be complacent, thinking things are just going to come to you.”

Properly chastened, Brighton tied the game on a power-play goal midway through the second and took the lead 18 seconds later en route to a 6-2 win over South Lyon at the Kensington Valley Ice House.

“It gave us confidence,” Brighton senior Spencer Gehres said of goals by Jake Crespi and Ben Peterson at the 8:55 and 8:37 marks, respectively. “We just started getting relaxed and playing our game.”

Gehres put the game out of reach with a goal of his own early in the third period.

“They said they calmed down,” Moggach said, adding his team was trying too hard in that first period. “You’ve got to find that zone. I don’t think we ever found the zone, but we were in a better zone than the one we started with.”

Brighton’s Adam Conquest chases the puck during the first period Wednesday. He had three assists in Brighton’s win. (Photo by Tim Robinson)

The win got Brighton (11-2 overall, 6-0 KLAA Central) a step closer to the conference title with a showdown at Plymouth looming on Friday. The Wildcats, at 6-1 in the conference, are one of the few teams left that can stymie the Bulldogs.

In all, six players scored the Bulldogs’ goals, which Moggach saw as a positive sign.

“We got some secondary scoring, which is always important,” he said. “We need to spread the scoring out. We  can’t count on one or two guys to get it done.”

Hartland 8, Walled Lake Northern 2

WATERFORD — Jake Behnke and Lars Storm each had a pair of goals for Hartland (12-1, 5-0 KLAA West). Jed Pietila and Josh Albring each had a goal and three assists.

Girls Basketball

Howell 49, Grand Blanc 20

HOWELL — Leah Weslock had 16 points and 10 rebounds for Howell (7-0, 2-0), which was playing its first game since before Christmas.

Lexie Miller added 16 for the Highlanders, who shot just 30 percent in a game that was postponed from Tuesday due to weather.

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