HOWELL — KLAA West Division coaches picked Brighton to finish second in the division in a preseason poll.
Then the Bulldogs lost their first three games, all of them non-conference losses.
“After the third game, we said we were going to reset and start again, and we’ve done that on both ends of the floor,” first-year coach Bob Wellman said.
So far, so good.
The Bulldogs claimed their fourth win in a row on Tuesday, rolling past Howell 57-41 to stay atop the division going into Friday’s early-season showdown at Northville.
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Senior guard Mary Copple led the way with 26 points, including an 11-for-11 mark at the free-throw line.
“We were able to get some good looks for Mary, and Mary did a great job creating opportunities for herself as well as her teammates,” Wellman said. “And our defense did a real nice job putting pressure on them.”
The Bulldogs (4-3 overall. 3-0 KLAA West) never trailed and held Howell’s top scorers, Sophie Daugard and Molly Deurloo, scoreless in the first quarter.
“We came out with a lot of energy,” Copple said. “We had a rough start to the season, but we’ve been working on team chemistry, even off the court, and that showed.”
The Highlanders (7-3, 1-2) never recovered after their slow start.
“Brighton played a great game,” Howell coach Tim Olszewski said. “I was very impressed with their execution, and their defense. The came out more hungry than we were. I’m not happy with our display out there. It’s not our trademark, not who we are, what we build ourselves on. They came out and dove for te loose balls. We were late for everything.”
Deurloo got going in the second quarter. finishing with 21 points. She was the only Highlander in double figures.
“We just needed to execute more and settle down and run the plays,” she said. “They had the the D, but we had a better offense. We just needed to execute on the court.”
While the Highlanders had a long team meeting after the game, first with the coaches. then amongst themselves, the Bulldogs were preparing for Friday’s first-place showdown at Northville.
“Northville is another scrappy team,” Wellman said. “We’ve got to come out with the same intensity as we did (Tuesday). Play solid on both ends of the floor and hopefully come out with another victory.”
