As the high school basketball regular season heads into its final days, teams are looking to test themselves before the district tournament begins.
There’s no doubt Fowlerville will be tested tonight.
The Gladiators will play host to Williamston, whose boys and girls basketball teams are both ranked in Class B, in CAAC White Division clashes tonight.
The girls will face the No. 4-ranked Hornets in the first game of a doubleheader at 6 p.m., followed by the boys at around 7:30. Both games will be broadcast on The Livingston Post.
The Fowlerville boys (8-6 overall, 4-3 CAAC White) are in a tight four-way battle for second in the White, with Eaton Rapids (4-3 in the league), Lansing Catholic (4-4) and Ionia (3-4) all in the mix.
Williamston (14-2, 7-0) can clinch the division title with a win.
The Gladiators girls (13-4, 6-2) had hoped tonight’s game would be for the league title, but a loss at Eaton Rapids effectively put Williamston in the driver’s seat. The Hornets (15-2, 7-0) have games with third-place Eaton Rapids and last-place Portland remaining.
“We’ve got a nice game plan set for (tonight),” first-year coach Billy Selvia said. “Hopefully we can execute and come out with a win.”
The Gladiators have been led by a triumvirate of Elie Smith, Jackie Jarvis and Ollie Updike. Smith is the team’s leading scorer who plays several positions on the floor, Jarvis, despite being 5-7, is the team’s leading rebounder and second-leading scorer, and Updike provides a steady hand and senior leadership at the point.
“We’ve come a long way since our first game,” Selvia said of a 47-32 loss at Williamston on Jan. 12. “We have different sets and a style of play than what they were used to. It took a little while. We move the ball well and we’re coming along pretty good.”
The Hornets feature former Gladiator Meghan Douglass, who transferred after last season, but Selvia says the Williamston player he’s most concerned about is center Allison Peplowski, a 6-2 senior.
“The big task is stopping her in the post,” he said. “When we played them, they scored 47 points and she had 21. She was tough. We don’t match up well against her.”
It’s possible the teams will meet a third time this season, if both get to the final of a Class B district at Haslett two weeks from today.
Selvia says he’s ready.
“We’ve got a couple of game plans,” he said. “I’ve got one game plan for (Friday) night, and we’ll see how that goes. If that doesn’t work, I have one ready for districts as well.”
