It’s a little like deja vu for the Hartland girls basketball team.
For the second time in three nights, the Eagles will take on a team for the third time this season, and, like Brighton, each team won on the other’s home floor.
The difference? This time, the loser’s season is over.
That’s where it sits for the Eagles (16-5), who play in the second game of a Class A district semifinal with Howell (17-3) tonight at 7 p.m.
The game will be broadcast on The Livingston Post.
Howell coach Tim Olszewski and his Hartland counterpart, Don Palmer, agree that mental focus is as much a factor as the physical playing of the game tonight.”
“It doesn’t matter what the records are,” Olszewski said. “We’re going to play each other extremely tough. In our conference, the teams battle each other and it’s physical. They have big girls, we have shooters. They have good guards, we have good guards. It’s just going to be another battle.”
It’s the second game of a district semifinal doubleheader. South Lyon East and South Lyon play at 5 p.m. Wednesday’s winners play in Friday’s district final.
What can one expect? That’s up in the air.
On Monday, Hartland survived a game of wild momentum swings, getting out to an 18-4 lead early in the second quarter, only to see Brighton go on a 19-0 run to take the lead.
“Kids can have off nights, coaches can have off nights,” Palmer said. “There’s a lot that goes in to it. I think when you get three teams like Brighton and Howell and us that are as talented as those three teams are, anything can happen.
“Someone can have a bad game and get beat a lot worse than you think they’re going to get beat. Somebody can have a good game and cruise in. I’m hoping it’s a close game, because that would get our adrenalin going.”
The key, Olszewski said, “is playing relaxed and playing the game they love to play. Not to be too worried from one possession to the next, but to keep playing. Understand that, at the minimum, it’s a 32-minute game, and you have to play hard.
“These teams know each other well, their strengths and weaknesses.”
