If you’re looking for a key matchup in today’s Class A district girls basketball final between Hartland and Howell, you need look no further than the point.
Hartland’s Michelle Moraitis and Howell’s Lexie Miller have been linchpins for their teams this season, Moraitis for her tenacity on defense and ability to drive the lane and pass at the last moment, Miller for her ability to both distribute the ball and carry her team offensively when the situation requires.
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“Those are two lions,” Hartland coach Don Palmer says. “They go and go and go, and if you’re watching that, you’re entertained too, because there’s no quit in either. I think the biggest difference is our kid is a senior. I think Alexis, who has had a great year, will have a great year as a senior. Alexis knows one speed, and she goes, and Michelle will stay with her most of the time. Two great players.”
The Eagles (21-1) have won all three meetings against the Highlanders (18-3) this season, and one of the key reasons has been Moraitis. Her pursuit of Miller on defense in the two games played at Hartland made it hard for Miller to get open to shoot, which in turn greatly affected the Howell offense.
Miller, who averaged 15 points per game during the regular season, has scored 19 in the three games combined against Hartland. Twelve of those at Howell in a game where Moraitis said she was feeling under the weather.
It’s not a stretch to say they’ll be running throughout tonight’s game, too.
Both are former cross country runners. Miller was the top Howell runner as a freshman before she gave up the sport in favor of basketball, while Moraitis led Hartland the last two years.
“Cross country helps me a lot,” Moraitis said Wednesday. “It gives me the endurance I need. I have natural speed, and that helps.”
Earlier, Miller had played every minute of a four-overtime win over Brighton. Although she appeared drained, she shook off the suggestion of exhaustion.
“I’m not too bad,” she said. “I run quite a bit, all of the time.
I definitely will be taking an ice bath tomorrow,” she added, grinning.
The Highlanders got to the final by doing whatever it took in a game where foul trouble forced coach Tim Olszewski to employ something deep in the playbook — a zone defense. In overtime, Howell’s offense came down to Miller, who scored all of her 11 points from the fourth quarter on.
Hartland, meanwhile, dispatched both South Lyon schools by an average of 30.5 points. The Eagles pushed the ball up the court, led by Moraitis, who didn’t score and didn’t need to.
Hartland’s wings, Graysen Cockerham and Lexey Tobel, have been deadly from the outside, and 6-3 freshman Whitney Sollom has been solid in the post.
The Highlanders, who have had a stellar season by almost any measure, are in the position of trying to reverse a season-long jinx, the same way Hartland tried to reverse an 0-3 record against Howell last year.
“I hope we’ll be ready,” Palmer said. “I’m sure they will be ready. Last year, when we went to that fourth time, we were motivated, highly motivated. It was a game I thought we won, and we let it slip away. So I’m going to predict this will be the best of the four games. I think they’ll come in fired up, and I hope we’ll be ready to go, too.”
Moraitis, asked about today’s game, was more direct.
“We’re looking forward to that game,” she said. “We’ll be ready.”
“It shows hard work pays off,” Miller said of Wednesday’s win. “We got to the next game, and we want to keep on going.”
