HOWELL — Girls basketball coach Tim Olszewski has no set plan for Wayne Memorial in Thursday’s KLAA title game.
He’s telling his Highlanders to be ready for anything.
“One of my girls asked me if they zone-trap or man-trap,” Olszewski said Wednesday. “I said, they all-trap. There’s no rhyme or reason. You have to look behind you, because they’re coming. They’re coming from the top. They’re coming from the middle. They’ll send three, four players to the ball. They want to increase the temp and wreak havoc (on opponents’ offenses) and they do a very good job of it.”
Wayne (18-1) and Howell (17-2) will meet Thursday at around 7 p.m. at Howell High School. The game will be broadcast on The Livingston Post.
“They’re a good team and we’re always excited to play any great team,” Howell coach Lexie Miller said after Monday’s win over Brighton. “It prepares us better for districts.”
The Zebras are led by Camree Clegg, a Clemson commit who shut down Hartland’s Graysen Cockerham in the second half of Monday’s semifinal. Cockerham had scored 14 points in the first half for Hartland, which led 27-19 at halftime.
Clegg scored 14 of her 15 points in the second half as Wayne rallied for the 45-40 victory.
“They’re very athletic,” Olszewski said. “They’re very quick and fast and deep. They’ve got a lot of girls who can play the game.”
But he’s not conceding anything.
“We always say, ‘prepare quickly but don’t shoot quickly,'” Olszewski said. “Here, you’ve always got to be anticipating. You’ve got to be very aware of who’s guarding Amanda (Corsten) or Paige (Johnson), because when they start flying at you, they’re the people who are going to be open.”
The Highlanders have played at a tempo suited for the KLAA Gold, which is a much slower pace than what Wayne likes to play. But Olszewski believes his team will be ready.
“We’ll be all right if eveyrone takes care of the ball and doesn’t panic,” he said. “It’s just a game. These girls have played in a thousand games. If we can withstand the onslaught of the pressure, I think we’re going to be OK.”
