Howell boys fall to Canton, 52-45 — with archived broadcast

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CANTON — Danny Honkala, asked about his play on Tuesday or about his reaction to a crash that killed two classmates over the weekend, was equal parts stoic and matter-of-fact.

“It a tough loss for those families,” he said of the deaths of Josh Pennala and Len Eskola. Both died when they were ejected from the truck Pennala was driving when it was involved in a two-car collision on Hacker Road on Saturday night. Two passengers, Joel Eskola and William Parks, were injured, as was the unnamed driver of the other car.  “I know their families pretty well. Just gotta get back to work.”

And he did. After being held scoreless in the first half, Honkala keyed a Howell rally by scoring eight points in the third quarter at Canton, a game the Highlanders lost 52-45 after getting within a basket in the final minutes.

Click here for the archived broadcast!

Asked if he gave the team a lift, Honkala flicked away any credit like any one of the outlet passes he made.

“I’m not the only one. We’ve got a lot of guys,” he said. “I can name everyone on our team. If anyone hits a big shot, everyone feels it. It wasn’t just me.”

Howell coach Nick Simon disagreed.

“There are certain guys the others just follow,” he said. “You don’t know why, but that’s Danny. It always has been. Whatever he’s doing, people tend to follow, so when he’s on a roll, man, it seems like the team gets behind him quickly.”

Honkala had eight points and Adam Jones six in the third quarter, after the Highlanders scored 14 points as a team in the first half, and trailed 22-14 at the half.

‘”They were just pressuring us,” Honkala said. “Most of their points in the first half were off turnovers. But we fixed that in the second half.”

Honkala, who was scoreless in the first half, began to draw fouls, which in turn sent Canton big man Dante Favor to the bench for long stretches of the second half. In addition, the shots that didn’t fall in the first half for Howell did so in the second.

But Canton was able to do just enough to keep the Highlanders at bay down the stretch, hitting key shots and also their last six free throws to finish the game on a 7-3 run.

“That’s what good teams do,” Simon said of the Chiefs. “They’re a very good team, well-coached, and they had three different guys hit big shots and they hit their free throws, which is the sign of a good team and what we expected of the.

The loss dropped Howell (6-4 overall, 5-2 KLAA West) into a second-place tie with hartland, which edged Northville 49-48 on Tuesday night. Canton (7-4, 7-0) won its seventh game in a row.

Howell is off until Saturday, when it plays Ann Arbor Pioneer in an invitational at Belleville.

“The biggest break is for the unfortunate circumstances some of our guys are going through” Simon said. “It’s good to get a day to kind of do your own thing. I think it’s good we play Saturday, so it’s not too much of a break.”

Honkala had a team-high 11 points, while Carter Bandemer and Jones had 10 apiece for Howell Lake McIntosh had 20 and Cole Vickers 14 for Canton.

Before making Honkala available for an interview, Simon warned reporters that the senior “hadn’t spoken two words in the last two days.”

But Honkala was composed and his voice was strong during a short news conference.

Simon earlier had expressed his appreciation and respect for his senior center.

“The ability for him to battle through that is as impressive as anything I’ve seen since I’ve gotten here,” he said.

 

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