Hartland coach Don Palmer, when pressed is cautious when asked about his team’s matchup against Dexter in a Class A regional girls basketball semifinal at Walled Lake Western.
“I guess we would say we have a larger margin of error,” he said.
Note the use of the word “larger.”
The Eagles (18-5) take on Dexter, which eliminated Ann Arbor Huron, the favor in its district, in last week’s district opener. The Dreadnaughts then beat Ann Arbor Pioneer 27-23 in Friday’s district final.
“We’re bigger and probably stronger,” Palmer said. “But they have a high basketball IQ. … It’s not necessarily slowdown or stallball, but it’s like those Wisconsin teams. You feel you’re playing, you feel like you’re hurrying a bit, and the game is low-scoring. My concern is getting off to a bad start and having to chase them.
“They’re very patient,” he continued. “They just seem to run some clock and if you don;t come out and get them out of their rhythm, they’re going to be very, very patient.”
The Eagles have 6-4 sophomore post player Whitney Sollom to help clean up mistakes on defense, but Palmer would rather not have his defense totally dependent on Sollom.
“It looks like all the Dexter kids can shoot hte ball decently,” Palmer said. “We’ve been having Whitney sometimes play a one-person zone. I’m not sure we can do that, although we’ll test the waters.
“They (Dexter) seem to be very, very sure of what they’re doing,” he continued. “They seem to be poised. They don’t seem to be rattled. So its an interesting matchup.”
Hartland and Dexter met in a November scrimmage.
“Back then, they out-executed us,” Palmer said. “I’m not sure if they won the 20-minute period or we did, but it was very, very close. ;;; I don’t think we have to play our best to be competitive, and maybe they do.”
Palmer has great respect for Dexter coach Mike Bavineau.
“I have great respect for him,” Palmer said. “He’s been to the semifinals with teams that probably weren’t top-4 teams, but got there. He’s one of those guys who, when you go against him, you’re very leery, because somehow, some way, he’ll stay in the game, and if he can stay in the game, he’ll win it.”
Tonight’s winner will play either Northville or host Walled Lake Western in Thursday’s regional championship game.
