Defense usually reigns supreme whenever Brighton and Hartland collide in girls basketball.
That’s why the final score of the game Tuesday, Jan. 20 probably raised some eyebrows among long-time followers of the rivalry: Hartland 73, Brighton 61.
This was definitely not your older sister’s Brighton-Hartland game.
The winning team hadn’t reached 50 points in the last 24 matchups between the teams since Hartland won 56-43 on Feb. 5, 2016. It took fewer than 40 points to win the last three editions of the rivalry, even one which Brighton won 38-37 in overtime last season.
Each team hit 10 3-pointers in a game Hartland led 20-8 after one quarter, 38-19 at halftime and 48-38 through three quarters.
Hartland was 23-for-25 from the line while putting up its highest point total since beating Salem 73-29 on Jan. 25, 2019.
“We got off to a good start,” Hartland coach Michael McKay said. “We shot the ball well. I saw in the first quarter we scored 20 points, which is unlike us. I looked at the coaching staff and said, ‘We’re on a pace for an 80-point night. There’s no way we can keep this thing up.’
“We tried to slow it down a little bit. Brighton did a good job trying to run. They’re running this year. They up-tempoed it. We had to play that style. We were forced to speed it up a bit and ended up hanging on to win.”
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Hartland junior Kendall Nokovich hit three 3-pointers and was 9-for-10 from the line, finishing with a career-high 26 points. Sophomore Reese Tucker also reached her career high with 16 points, while sophomore Brinley Neuer had 16.
“The kids did a good job of moving the ball around and finding the person that’s hot,” McKay said. “Tonight it was Kendall Nokovich knocking down shots for us. Brinley’s kind of our constant and we had a good game out of Reese Tucker tonight. She’s an inside kick. Brinley and Kendall, the guards, found her on some drop-offs and she caught it and stuck them and did a good job from the free throw line.”
Emma Adamczyk had 17 points, Anna Minnick 13, Gracyn Houck 10 and Quinn Holdridge nine for Brighton. Houck also had seven rebounds and four assists.
Hartland improved to 6-5, while Brighton fell to 3-7.
“Any time we’re able to pull out a nice win on the road against our rival, it’s nice to see the kids smile and enjoy it,” McKay said. “That’s what I told them tonight is to enjoy it, take tonight and get back to it tomorrow. Our side, other than Howell, everybody’s right there competing against one another. It’s a good division to be in.”
Howell 56, Canton 18
Howell improved to 6-0 in the KLAA West heading into a showdown between the division co-leaders at 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 23 at Northville.
The Highlanders held an opponent to less than 20 points for the third time this season, improving to 12-1 overall and extending their winning streak to eight games.
Gabby Piepho had 21 points, Lilly Williams had 17 points and 18 rebounds, and Lyla Valentine had eight points and five rebounds for Howell.
Corunna 36, Fowlerville 31
Izzy Cox had eight points and Payton Ryan six for Fowlerville.
Boys basketball
Howell 55, Canton 46
Danny Hampton scored 22 points for Howell (7-6) against a Canton team that entered the game with an 8-3 record.
Pinckney 39, Parma Western 37
Charlie Austin scored 13 points, Owen Zylka 11 and Jace Carlson 10 for Pinckney.
Livingston Christian 62, Rochester Christian 31
Ethan Harrison had 28 points, Colton Slater had 15 points and Brayden DeMasellis grabbed 15 rebounds for Livingston Christian.
Portland 72, Fowlerville 33
Landon Aeschliman had 10 points and Sam Shrader eight for Fowlerville (3-9).
Hockey
Brighton 4, Riverview Gabriel Richard 1
Brighton staged another comeback to extend its winning streak to six games heading into a rivalry game against Hartland at 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 23 in Brighton.
The Bulldogs (11-9) fell behind 1-0 just 3:57 into the game. Max MacKenzie tied it with 6:02 left in the first before back-to-back goals by Nic Smith in the second period put Brighton up 3-1. Landen Hall completed the scoring with 2:14 left in the game.
Reece Hutcheson made 24 saves for the Bulldogs, who lost six in a row before embarking on their current winning streak.
Girls skiing
Mt. Brighton giant slalom
Brighton won for the second time in as many meets this season, scoring 18 points to win by 33 over runner-up Birmingham.
Payton Wedekemper took first, Addy Petit fourth, Brooke Petit sixth and Maddy LaFontaine seventh for Brighton. Charyl Stockwell’s Erin Carlson was 11th.
Boys skiing
Mt. Brighton giant slalom
Brighton scored 48 points to finish second by 17 behind Detroit Catholic Central. Howell was fifth with 94.
Brighton’s Weston Buckley was first by 0.10 seconds over Zach Sobczak of Catholic Central. Erik DeKeyser was third and Dane DeKeyser 12th for the Bulldogs.
Howell’s Brayden Cotton was sixth.
Girls bowling
Brighton 29, Northville 1
Natalie Barrett rolled a 354 series and Avery Willim a 341 for Brighton (7-3).
Boys bowling
Northville 20.5, Brighton 9.5
Bronsen Chapman rolled a 224 and George Ascencio a 221 for Brighton (5-5).
Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@livingstondaily.com. Follow him on X @BillKhan
This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Hartland, Brighton shatter defensive trend in girls basketball rivalry
Reporting by Bill Khan, Livingston Daily / Livingston Daily
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
