HOWELL — Late in Friday’s game, the result long decided, the Howell girls basketball team got the ball with a little over a minute left, crossed into their own half court, and simply passed the ball around from player to player as the clock ran out.
“I thought of a dead-ball drill that we do (in practice),” said Howell senior Maeve St. John, who had a game-high 25 points. “We’re not allowed to dribble the ball, and when you win that drill, it’s the best feeling. Winning a real game is great, also.”
As a result, the Highlanders (14-4 overall) finished the KLAA’s regular season tiee with Hartland for the KLAA West Division championship after rolling past Brighton, 52-35, on Friday night.
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The Bulldogs (11-7, 8-6) never contended after the Highlanders broke out to an 8-0 lead to start the game and led by as many as 22 in the second half.
“We tried to warn the kids that when you come in here and they’re going for a piece of a championship, you’re going to get a knockout punch right from the start, and we weren’t ready for it,” Brighton coach Paul Ash said.
That, Howell coach Tim Olszewski said, was by design.
“We try to establish the lead so we can dictate the tempo and do what we want to do,” he said.
St. John set the tempo after that for the Highlanders, and when the Bulldogs kept her from the basket, she found her teammates, particularly Sophie Daugard, who had 19 points.
“I did a much better job and controlling the tempo,” St. John said afterward, wearing the net from the game as a necklace. “My teammates hold me accountable. They do that every single day at practice.”
St. John was transcendent on Friday, hitting from way outside as well as driving to the rum. Her only flaw, if there was one, was at the free-throw line, where she was 1-for-5, and it didn’t matter in the end.
“It was one of her better games,” Olszewski said. “She’s grown exponentially as a leader and a player. I’ve never given the net to a player before, but she’s deserving of it because for her leadership and what she;s meant to the program.”
Near the end of the game, St. John drove on the Brighton defense against slim odds. When she emerged, she looked at Olszewski and smirked.
“She’s a fun kid and likes to have fun,” he said. “She’s really controlled things so well in the second half of the season and that’s part of the reason for our success the second half of the season.”
On Friday, St. John was a big kid living a little kid’s dream.
“It’s definitely a surreal experience,” she said. ‘Once you get into high school, and even before that as a kid, you play imaginary games and this is for the championship and you always imagine cutting fown the nets This was the night we actually got to do it.”
The Highlanders, who earned the second seed in next week’s KLAA tournament, will play in a semifinal at Wayne on Monday.
Mary Copple had 10 points to pace Brighton, while Sarah Ebel had nine points and 13 rebounds.
“This year, for some reason, we’re not that mentally tough of a team” Ash said. “We’ve got a week and a half to figre it out before districts. We’ve got to get better in a hurry.”
