HOWELL — Cody Deurloo had a plan in the final seconds of overtime on Tuesday night as Northville’s Mark Grimes set up for a long-distance 3-point try.
“He misses, get the rebound and hold it until I get fouled,” he said.
Deurloo never got the chance. Grimes sank the 3-pointer from at least 25 feet, and Northville went home with a 61-59 victory
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It was an emotional roller-coaster for both teams, as the lead went back and forth during the second half and into overtime.
The Highlanders played most of a quarter without Josh Palo, who had scored 13 of the team’s first 15 points, when he went out with an ankle injury. Kip French missed part of the second half with a nose bleed and Matthew Dewar left the game down the stretch with an unspecified victory.
But Palo played the second half “on one leg,” as coach Nick Simon put it, and French scored all seven Howell points in overtime, including a basket that gave the Highlanders a 59-58 lead late in overtime.
“It was big,” Palo said of his team’s effort. “Everyone did what they could. Cody stepped up. Kip had a huge game. Everyone did a good job.”
Another unsung Howell standout was sophomore Peyton Ward, who played solid defense and put up a 3-pointer late that would have sealed it for the Highlanders, only to see it roll around the rim twice and fall off the side.
“I think it rolled around the rim a couple, three times,” Howell coach Nick Simon said. “It was a confident shot and those go in sometimes, and sometimes they don’t.”
Howell (10-5, 6-5 KLAA Gold) was all but eliminated from KLAA Gold Division title contention with the loss.
“I don’t know that I’ve been more proud of my time than right now,” Simon said. “Our guys competed and dealt with adversity as well as I’ve seen in a long, long time. They really fought. They battled. We plugged guys in and they played their tails off, and that’s going to serve us well in the future.”
Northville (11-5, 7-4), led much of the evening, but the Highlanders kept scrapping and finding a way.
Deurloo had 14 points, a career high, making the most of his height (he’s 6-5) and a nice fadeaway jumper.
“We played very hard together as a team,” Duerloo said, “and (Simon) said there’s really nothing to be upset about.”
On the final play, Simon said his team defended it as well as it could.
“Our kids did a good job taking away the middle and forcing about a 30-foot three,” he said. “It was kind of early in the clock. There were about 10 seconds and he shot it at about five. I thought we did a good job in the situation and credit to him. He made the shot in a big moment.”
The Highlanders have a week off before finishing division play at Brighton next Tuesday.
“We gotta get healthy,” Simon said. “We have a lot of guys out right now, and hopefully this week we can get some rest and get healthy for Tuesday. We’ve got a tough schedule and every game we play this year is going to be difficult. We can’t sulk on this. We have to get ready for Brighton.”
