Brighton’s girls basketball team got off to a slow, as in 0-6, start to this season.
Howell is tied for second in the KLAA West and is coming off a 50-16 rout of Plymouth on Tuesday.
A day after heavy snow forced a postponement, the teams renew their ancient rivalry today at Howell.
All that means is you can forget the record books, since most anything can happen in a rivalry game.
“You never know what’s going to come forth,” Brighton coach Bob Wellman said. “We just hope that we have our girls ready to ply iur best basketball, because we need to bring that.”
The game will be broadcast on The Livingston Post beginning at around 3:50 p.m. Click here for the link.
There’s also this: today’s game will be the first for Howell coach Jason Piepho against Brighton, where he coached for 15 seasons before resigning in 2016.
He didn’t coach any of the current Bulldogs, but has an idea of what to expect.
“They’re going to play hard,” Piepho said. “In rivalry games, it comes down to who executes and makes shots, because either you’re playing with a little too much energy and shots are long or short. It’s just who can settle down and adjust to the game.”
Both teams are young. Freshman Grace Houck, who started the season on the Bulldogs’ JV team had been playing on both the JV and varsity teams until Tuesday, when she scored 20 points in an overtime win over Northville.
“She has a great basketball IQ,” Wellman said. “She still makes freshman mistakes, like anyone does. But her overall game is very solid and sher’ll continue to give us really good minutes.”
Neither coach is expecting a high-scoring game.
“Baskets are at a premium,” Piepho said. “A lot of times it feels like a race to 30 (points). We want to come down nd execute our offense, get good ball movement and get everyone involved. We’re a better team when everybody’s involved.”
