A lot has changed for the Hartland and Howell girls basketball teams since last season, but maybe not as much as it appears.
The Eagles and Highlanders meet tonight at Hartland in the KLAA West Division opener for both teams. The scheduled starting time has been moved up to 6 p.m. due to the predicted snowstorm that is set to begin Thursday night.
The game will be broadcast on The Livingston Post starting at around 5:50 p.m. Click here for a link.
The biggest changes, at least roster-wise, is with Hartland, which graduated its top eight players from last season.
But Howell coach Tim Olszewski says this year’s Eagles are coming off a year of practice unlike most teams getting their first taste of playing varsity basketball.
“Those girls, even though they didn’t get a lot of minutes, went up against top-grade all-state basketball players every day,” Olszewki said. “I don’t look at it as any kind of learning curve on their behalf. They’re ready and they’ve shown that they’re ready.”
There have been bumps along the road, including Tuesday’s Hartland loss to an experienced Wayne squad that blew the game open in the fourth quarter of a 51-39 loss.
Hartland coach Reyna Luplow, in her first season, was pleased with her team’s effort in the loss and in what she’s seen so far.
“We’re doing a lot of visualization at practice and before games, and I think eventually it will click,” she said.
The Eagles also have an advantage you can’t coach: height. Hartland features five players who are 5-11 or taller, including starting center Sarah Rekowski, who’s 6-3.
“Somehow they get a girl who’s six-foot and a couple of them,” Howell senior Sophie Daugard said. “We’re average, like 5-foot-6 over here, so it’s dealing with their height.”
Daugard and her teammates showed their quickness and savvy on Tuesday, when Daugard took an inbounds pass with five seconds left in regulation, then drove the length of the court to score the winning basket in a 55-54 home win over Belleville, like Wayne one of the favorites to win the KLAA East in preseason
The Highlanders, who go into tonight’s game with a 4-1 mark, have used three returning starters in the first five games, and get a fourth, Molly Deurloo, back in the lineup tonight. Deurloo was cleared to play this week after sitting out the first three weeks due to a thumb injury.
“They’re a quick team,” Hartland senior Liv Linden said. “We’re quick too. We’re learning how to take our time and be patient on offense.”
The expected snowstorm also has changed starting times for at least one other matchup. Thursday’s Howell boys home game against Ann Arbor Pioneer will tip off at around 5:30 p.m., following the JV game which begins at 4 p.m,.
