PINCKNEY — Friday night, after his team moved a game closer to its first league title in 21 seasons, Howell boys basketball coach Nick Simon had other goals on his mind.
“We’ve earned at least a share of it, at least right now,” Simon said. “I don’t think we’ve accomplished that first goal. I think we’re real close, but there’s a lot bigger goals ahead and a a lot of work we have to do.”
Howell (10-3 overall, 7-0 KLAA West), clinched a tie for the division title with a 59-51 win at Pinckney. The Highlanders have the tiebreaker over the only team that can tie them in the standings with a pair of wins over Milford.
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After three quarters, the Highlanders had rolled up a 12-point lead, 41-29, over the Pirates, but Simon knew better.
“They don’t quit. We knew that,” he said. “I told them between the quarters that they were going to make a run. I told them we have to ebrace the struggle and embrace the adversity, and that’s what happened.”
“I thought we were rushing our shots a little bit,” Pinckney coach Tom Reason said. “I told them to be more deliberate on where we want the ball to go. We got a pair of 3s because we were collapsing the defense a little bit and we got two kick-out looks and knocked them down,”
The Pirates opened the quarter with a 10-2 run that cut the Highlanders’ lead to four, 43-39, and trimmed the edge to three, 50-47, before Johnny Shields was fouled. Reason argued the call, receiving a technical foul, and Shields hit three of the four free throws to put the Highlanders up by six, and Howell held on the rest of the way.
“The hardest shot in the game is the shot to tie and the shot to go ahead,” Pinckney’s Kolton Pavlicek said. “It’s tough to stay in ballgames when shots aren’t hitting.”
Reason was pleased with his team’s shot selection, despite the Pirates struggles.
“I liked our shots,” he said. “There are times I don’t like our shots, but I liked our shot selection. It’s basketball. You’ve got to make shots, right?
“I thought the difference in the game was their defense, I really did. I think this is why they’re 7-0 in the league. They played tremendous D. They’re very physical and it really pays off. It really does.”
Shields said confidence was key to withstanding the run.
“Just stay confident. We missed a couple of shots, and they hit them, which started their rally,” he said. “Staying confident and staying calm on offense.”
Evan Fackler led the Pinckney charge, netting nine of his game-high 20 points in the fourth quarter. Kyle O’Donohue added 12 and Connor Chynoweth 10 for the Pirates (8-5, 3-5).
Shields, who drew the attention of the Pinckney defense throughout the night, finished with 16 points, going 6-for-8 at the line in the fourth quarter. Josh Palo had 14 points while going 6-for-6 at the line and pulled in 13 rebounds. Dan Zolinski had 10 points for Howell.
The Highlanders can clinch their first league title since the 1995-96 season at home against Hartland on Tuesday night.
“Hartland always gives us a really good challenged, and we’re looking to win the division outright,” Simon said. ” Our goals aren’t accomplished yet, by any means.”
