HARTLAND — Salem went into Friday’s girls basketball game at Hartland without its coach and without a lot of hope of beating Hartland.
But, as coach Don Palmer predicted, the Rocks came out with plenty of gumption.
“I tried to convey to the kids that, yeah, we beat them at their place by however many points that was (60-25), but I’m going to tell you: They’re going to come in and lplay hard,” Hartland coach Don Palmer said. “That’s what they do, and they did it the whole time.”
And Salem did. The Rocks led most of the first quarter, but hard work didn’t overcome a talent disadvantage, and while the Eagles weren’t hitting on all cylinders, they had more than enough to dispatch Salem, 53-33, on Friday night. It was the sixth win in a row for the Eagles (13-1 overall, 9-1 KLAA West).
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“We attacked their zone pretty well, but we missed layups and left a lot of points on the floor,” Palmer said.
The win sets up a showdown with Howell at Hartland for the KLAA West Division lead on Tuesday. A win would all but clinch the title for Howell, which beat Plymouth on Friday, while Hartland would tie for first with a win Tuesday and a sweep of its remaining schedule.
Hartland has Howell on Tuesday and is at Brighton on Friday, a bit of scheduling Palmer was less than thrilled with.
“I wish they’d get a little more creative with the schedule,” Palmer said of playing two of the division’s top teams, and Hartland’s biggest rivals, in the same week. “Bu all three teams are loking forward to the games.”
Hartland had three players in double figures Friday. Gracey Metz had a team-high 14, while Leah Lappin and Kate Jacobs each had 10. Madison Morsen had a game-high 15 for Salem.
At times, the Eagles were playing as if to get the Salem game out of the way. as soon as possible. They accomplished that in large part due to a 13-4 spurt in the third quarter that effectively out the game out of reach.
Afterward, Palmer said Salem was as tough a game for his team as he expects Howell and Brighton to be next week.
“The Novi and Salem games are hard for us to play,” Palmer said. “No disrespect to anybody. I was disappointed at Novi, and we won by 34 points. But we’ll take the win. We have time to get ready (for Howell), and we’ll enjoy this one tonight.
