One challenge down, another on the horizon.
After ending a long tournament drought by beating Hartland in Saturday’s girls basketball district at Hartland, Howell takes on another team on its home floor tonight when the Highlanders take on Lake Orion at Lake Orion High School.
The game is the second game of a regional doubleheader, and it will be broadcast on The Livingston Post at around 7 p.m. Click here for the link.
In the first game, Rochester will take on West Bloomfield, which beat Hartland in the Division 1 championship game last year.
Lake Orion (19-5) edged Clarkston 54-52 by relying on 3-pointers. The Dragons hit 13 for the game.
“They can shoot,” Howell coach Tim Olszewski said. “I would have to say that 60% of their shots are 3s, and they’re making 40% of them. So I think we’re going to have our hands full trying to contain their scorers, but, you know, the ball’s got to be tossed up.”
Which means, of course, that anything can happen in the postseason.
The Highlanders are 18-6, but Olszewski says it’s hard to evaluate a team based on its record at this time of year.
“We’ve always said that if we got out of our league, which we feel is one of the toughest in the state, it would be interesting how we’d fare,” Olszewski said. “So we’ll find out pretty quick, because we’re going to be facing a pretty good team.”
Audrey Wischmeyer had 21 points to lead Lake Orion on Friday, including four 3s in the first quarter. But, like Howell, Olszewski says the Dragons don’t have a dominant player in the post.
“We have to make sure where they’re at, moving on the flight of the ball and making sure our closeouts are solid,” Olszewski said. “We have to continue to do a good job boxing out and rebounding so they on’t get those second and third shots or get the ball inside out for another 3.”
How well they do that will determine if, after ending a seven-year district drought, how well they can address a regional title drought that stretches back to 1996, when they reached the Class A championship game.
