Howell girls basketball coach Tim Olszewski is, in the worst of times, a sunny optimist.
This season, things are going very well for his team, which finds itself in first place in the ILAA West going into tonight’s home game with Northville, and Olszewaki is appropriately bullish on his team so far.
“They’re very bought-in to the process,” he said. “After we beat Hartland last week, you had to wonder how everything was going to gel. But everyone picked up the pieces and we didn’t miss a beat.”
The Highlanders (6-3 overall, 5-0 KLAA West) beat No. 4- ranked Hartland 37-31, then rolled past Novi, 59-30, despite losing their top post player, Amelia Storm, and defensive whiz Sophie Daugard to non-Covid-related illnesses.
“We started Allison Farr and Stella Shinn, but we also had to go into our bench,” Olsewski said. “Everyone performed.”
The Highlanders will be looking for more of the same tonight when they play host to Northville (7-2, 4-1) in a game that can be heard on The Livingston Post starting at around 6:50 p.m. Click here for the link.
The Mustangs’ only loss in the West was to Hartland in the KLAA season opener. The teams are tied for second, a game behind Howell.
“Northville is very solid defensively, very disciplined,” Olszewski said. “On film, they do a lot of great things offensively and their coach (Todd Gudith) has them playing very well. It;s not a game we’re going to overlook at all.”
Howell, ranked 19th in this week’s Michigan Associated Press girls basketball poll, has grown over the first half of the season, Olszewski said.
“Theyv’ve learne to be more patient,” he sad. “Sometimes we have a little bit of a quick trigger offensively. We weren’t as disciplined as we needed to be. We’re a little more patient offensively and on defense we’re more aggressive in our rebounding.”
It’s a combination the Highlanders plan to continue to employ as the first half of the KLAA season comes to an end this week, including tonight’s game and Friday’s contest at Brighton.
