HARTLAND —Hartland girls basketball coach don Palmer was both pleased and a little peeved after his team rolled past Belleville, 59-36, to reach Thursday’s KLAA title game.
Pleased with his team’s play against Belleville, which saw the Eagles break a 4-4 tie and never look back, putting the game out of reach with a 20-4 spurt in the third quarter.
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Peeved in that it means another game with Howell and the prospect of a fourth in net week’s district final.
“I’m excite about the game,” he said, “but I wouldn’t have minded going to Wayne and playing anyone different.”
Senior Leah Lappin, who had a game-high 16 points for Hartland, was more willing to have fun with the concept, at least.
“We get a few more chances to play them before districts,” she said, tongue firmly in cheek.
Hartland (18-1) ran from the onset, beating Belleville at its own game, which centered around outrunning opponents.
Trouble was, Hartland had a decided height advantage, which the Eagles used to full advantage.
“We did have a height advantage,” Lapping said, “but our main focus was to run, and we got out and did that.”
Ther Eagles’ versatility proved too much, too. In the first quarter, Amanda Roach had eight points, all on fast-break layups. Once Belleville put a stop to that, the Tigers crept to within nine points, 26-17, at halftime.
“We thought we had left some points out there,” Palmer said. “We said if you can hold them to 17 again, i think we’ll score more than 34.”
The Eagles also got Lappin and Gracey Metz going on offense. After they combined for seen points in the first half, Lappin had nine and Metz eight in te third quarter alone, and the Tigers were all but one.
“We knew they were a fast team, and that was an emphasis,” Lappin said. “At hte beginning the shots weren’t falling, but you’ve got to keep shooting, and then they started to (fall).”
Metz finished with 14 points for the No. 3-ranked Eagles, who led by 30 points in the second half. Dara Shelby had 10 for Belleville (13-6). who have lost twice to No. 6 Wayne.
The Eagles get one more home game to end the regular season when they play host to howell in Thursday’s championship. Howell beat Wayne 66-54, but lost guard Sophie Daugard to a broken nose in that contest. She has not been ruled out for Thursday’s game.
“Great job by Howell,” Palmer said. “It’s an all-West final, and it means we’ll play four times, most likely. I don;t know about Tim (Howell coach Tim Olszewski), but it’s not going to help my stress level.”
Palmer chuckled when he said that. Later, he added, “Howell won and we play them, and it should be fun.”
