SOUTH LYON — After three tough, emotional, grinding games in a row to cap the regular season, Hartland girls basketball coach Don Palmer worried about a letdown Monday night.
Any worries he had likely evaporated as quickly as South Lyon’s early 5-3 lead, which saw the Eagles go on a 23-2 run to end the first quarter.
“We wanted to come into this game not taking it for granted,” said Grayson Cockerham, who scored all nine of her points in the first quarter. “We have to take advantage of these games and get ready. We can’t take it lightly and we can’t lose one.”
The Eagles (20-1) breezed to a 65-35 victory over the Lions in the first round of a Class A district at South Lyon East.
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The win earned Hartland a berth in the district semifinals Wednesday night against host South Lyon East in the second game of a doubleheader. Brighton and Howell will meet in the opener at 6 p.m.
Palmer, the coaching lifer who has learned not to get too high or low, gave an assessment of the game he freely called “nitpicking.”
“We shot it very well, and then you get into a comfort zone and take it from there,” he said. “I didn’t like the defense a lot of times. I thought we over-helped (on defense) and got burned on some backside passes. … You get that big lead and people start thinking offense, offense, rather than play, play.”
And, while Palmer was concerned, the Lions weren’t able to take advantage of Hartland mistakes on offense.
Matching Cockerham in the first quarter was Lexey Tobel, who hit three 3-pointers in the quarter and finished with a game-high 19 points.
Whitney Sollom, who was steadfast in the paint, drained a 3-pointer of her own in the second half en route to scoring 12 points.
The Eagles hit a rare milestone, reaching 20 wins.
“To win 20 games in 21 attempts, that’s rarefied air,” Palmer said. “A lot of teams don’t get the chance to do that. That’s special and (the Eagles) have done a lot already, but there’s a lot more steps to go, hopefully.”
Asked about it, Cockerham was cool at first until the realization hit. Then she giggled.
“I’m happy for us,” she said. “We could have won 20 last year, but we lost four to Howell. It’s especially hard to do, winning 20 of 21 games, but we’re not done yet. We’re looking to make that number bigger.”
