HOWELL — It didn’t take long for the Howell girls basketball team to assert itself on Tuesday.
After spotting Plymouth a 4-1 lead in the opening minutes, the Highlanders ran away from the visiting Wildcats in a 46-30 victory.
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“We just had to settle down, play the game we normally play and trust each other,” Howell freshman Gabrielle Piepho said. “Once we played like we normally do, it all fell into place.”
As a result, the Highlanders (14-4 overall, 8-3 KLAA West) kept pace with Salem in their long-shot bid to get at least a tie for the division title. Howell is two games behind Salem with three league games left, and needs a Salem loss to either Northville at home on Friday or at Novi next Tuesday to set up a showdown at Howell on the last night of the KLAA regular season.
But, to get there, the Highlanders had to take care of business on Tuesday, a prospect that had coach Tim Olszewski a little wary going in. It didn’t matter, in his mind, that the Wildcats were 0-10 in the division going in.
“We put that record on the board, and I said, ‘if that doesn’t scare you, something’s wrong,'” Olszewski said.
The fact that the previous meeting was a 31-28 nail-biter that went in favor of the Highlanders was a factor, too.
As it turned out, Olszewski didn’t have to worry. Howell outscored Plymouth 11-2 to end the first quarter, led 24-12 at the half and allowed only two points in the third quarter to put the game out of reach.
Molly Deurloo led all scorers with 12 points. Sophie Daugard added 10 and Piepho eight for Howell.
The Highlanders started hitting shots midway through the first quarter and also controlled the boards to take control of the game for good.
‘We’ve been working on our transition game, and we’ve been doing some really good things in terms of getting the ball up the court,” Olszewski said. ‘I was very happy with our defense, our offensive performance. Sometimes we’re a little too patient. I’d like us to be more aggressive sometimes, But when you hold a team to 14 points after three quarters, you’re doing something right.”
The Highlanders at home against novi on Friday and travel to Northville next Tuesday, needing both wins and a Salem loss to keep their championship hopes alive going into the Feb. 17 matchup at home against Salem.
“That’s what we’re pushing for,” Piepho said. “Hopefully, we’ll get a chance.”
