Tim RobinsonThe good news for the Brighton boys basketball team was it got one of those precious things on Friday night — a win on the road.
The Bulldogs held off a Hartland rally in the third period, then won going away, 56-40.
“You always want to win on you home court, for sure,” Brighton coach Mike Griest said. “But the road wins are special.”
The challenge is that tonight, they are home against the Eagles in a game that will be broadcast on The Livingston Post at around 6 p.m.
“It’s a good rivalry,” he continued, “so the kids are really happy about that,” Griest said. “Now we have to win at our house, because I know they’re going to want to pay us back.”
The Eagles (1-1) trailed by 12 at halftime but cut the lead to five with a 21-point third quarter. But the Bulldogs held them to just three points in the fourth.
The end result, Griest said, was the Bulldogs didn’t have a lot of time to celebrate.
“Hopefully the guys can celebrate a little,” Griest said. “But we’ll get back at it looking at some film, see some minor things we can do better and talk about it.”
Hartland coach Kevin Blouin said his team had an off night shooting. That, combined with a tenacious Brighton defense, was the difference down the stretch.
“I thought we challenged their shooters pretty well and kept them from getting the ball into the middle.” Griest said.
The original game time f 5 p.m. was pushed back an hour to accommodate a KLAA wrestling quad that began at 9 a.m.
