2016-17 Kensington Lakes Play

“Eagles Soar to Victory Over the Bulldogs”

Friday, February 3, 2017

Hartland High School

The Hartland Eagles looked to add to their perfect record in the KLAA West Division as they hosted division rivals, the Brighton Bulldogs.  Both teams came into Friday night’s matchup with an impressive 22 combined wins on the year.

It would be a slow start for both teams as the halfway point of the 1st quarter would only show a Hartland lead of 3-1.  The Eagles began to heat up with a nice trickle in shot by junior captain Graysen Cockerham.  A minute later, she would follow up with a triple capping off a 9-0 run.  Freshman Sophie Dziekan would end the drought for the Bulldogs with an up and over shot with just over a minute to go. However, Brighton would still face a deficit of 10-3 heading into the 2nd quarter.

Things really cooled off in the 2nd quarter as neither team would score a point in the first two and a half minutes. But then, Hartland started to put it in gear by grabbing many the rebounds in the Bulldogs’ zone.  “I thought we had some offensive rebounds and some key defensive rebounds when they were shooting threes” said Hartland Coach Don Palmer.  “Sometimes on those long threes the ball can go anywhere and we did a nice job chasing those down.”  Senior captain Michelle Moraitis would get a big fast break and a layup which was followed minutes later by fellow senior captain Lexey Tobel getting a basket and the foul.  Dziekan would try to help her team keep up with Hartland with a hook shot and a much needed off the backboard shot in the closing minutes of the half but the Eagles would only slightly add to their lead heading into the locker room up 18-10

The 3rd quarter was raining 3’s! Only one 3 pointer in the in the first half, Cockerham had a pair for Hartland and junior Dana Schemanske hit a pair to answer right back for the Bulldogs.  Although both teams were neck and neck for most of the quarter, Hartland would go on a big 9-2 run partly in thanks to freshman Whitney Sollom getting a basket, drawing the foul and hitting the and 1! Heading into the final quarter, the Eagles would have a 33-20 lead.

Brighton did not give up however, they shut out Hartland for the first two and a half minutes of the 4th while Schemanske laid down another triple then Dziekan got a nice put back a minute later to put together a 7-1 run and cut the Eagles lead to 7.  Unfortunately, it was too tough a hill to climb as they would come no closer. Both teams finish the game with few points, but Hartland still improves to 13-1 on the year, 6-0 in the West, while Brighton would fall to 10-3, 5-2 in the West.  Final score 41-30.

Leading scorers of the night: Brighton: Sophie Dziekan 16, Dana Schemanske 10, Julianna Pietila 2.  Hartland: Graysen Cockerham 15, Whitney Sollom 14, Lexey Tobel 7.

Game and Team Highlights

Brighton:

• It was an impressive game for freshman Sophie Dziekan.  She looked like an upper classman with a game high 16 points, she also lead Brighton going into the half with 6 points, 4 of those coming late in the 2nd quarter.
• Junior Dana Schemanske had a great night as well, she was second among the Bulldogs in points with 10 which include three baskets from the 3-point line.

Hartland:

• Coach Palmer was impressed by the job his defense did tonight, not only did they limit star Bulldog Julianna Pietila to one basket but they also committed to his strategy of keeping their opponent to only 30 points which he thinks gives a team a great chance to win.
• Dziekan was not the only freshman showing what great things are to come tonight.  Whitney Sollom of Hartland also looked impressive with 14 points on the night including a big layup in the 2nd quarter and a basket plus the foul in the 3rd to cap off a 9-2 run for the Eagles.