Hartland Girls Basketball Dribbles Past Walled Lake Western in Home Opener

After a few close wins against Fenton and Davison, the Hartland High School girls varsity basketball team sprinted out to an early lead and coasted Thursday to a 67-32 win over Walled Lake Western in its home opener.

"Tonight's game was a great game for us," junior Bailee Maggert said. "We came out a little too softly defensively, but eventually did better and pulled out a win. It was a great team effort and a confidence booster for us going into Carman-Ainsworth (undefeated)."

Coach Don Palmer was pleased with the win for the Hartland (3-0) but was concerned about the team's overall performance, saying the Eagles still had pieces to work on.

"I think we're a very, very good offensive team," Palmer said. "I think we can pass well, and score outside, and shoot from the perimeter. I don't think offense is going to be our problem; I think rebounding is going to be our problem, and we didn't handle a lot of the traps well tonight. The first time you go against that trapping zone, it's kind of a mystery. We solved it, but it took a little longer than we wanted it to take."

Maggert, however, thought the trapping put them at an advantage throughout the night against the Warriors (0-3).

"Walled Lake was playing a 2-3 trapping zone and left our posts wide open on the backdoor court," she said. "Getting the ball to the middle and down low worked well for us throughout the course of the game."

Maggert, senior Hailey Pleshakov and senior Kelly Holda stood out to Palmer as some key players. Holda was the high scorer of the game with 23 points.

"You kind of marvel at the Pleshakov kid and how fast she is. She dribbles faster than fast people run," he said. "Maggert has a very, very high basketball IQ and finds people open and makes plays. Obviously, Kelly Holda had a good night. She was beneficiary of some great passing, she made her lay-ups, and she got down the court really well."

The Eagles play Carman-Ainsworth 7 p.m. Tuesday at .

"Carman-Ainsworth is a really athletic team, so we're going to have to be mentally and physically prepared," Maggert said. "We have to play our best if we want to compete and get a win."

Palmer said the Eagles are going to have to work on breaking pressure to beat the Cavaliers.

"They're 3-2 and they've been in every game," he said. "This will be a little more experienced team (than Walled Lake) and definitely better athletes. Hailey was able to dribble by most people, and that might not be the case Tuesday night. We're going to have to handle pressure and handle athleticism."

Editor's note: This story was updated on Friday to correct show that Kelly Holda scored 23 points. A name in photo caption also was corrected to identify junior Kaila Pietila. Hartland Patch regrets the errors.