Hartland Girls Hoops Beat Fenton in Overtime

FENTON — It was Jaymie Dyer's first varsity girls basketball game and she finished it a hero — hitting several clutch three-pointers that included one to tie the game near the end of regulation and another in overtime to put her team ahead for good as Hartland beat Fenton 49-48 Friday night.

"I was just hoping it went in," said Dyer with a laugh about the basket that knotted the score at 40 with 20 seconds left. "I couldn't tell you what was running through my mind when I put the shot up."

The junior guard scored a game-high 19, sinking five three-pointers in all.

"I told her, we are going to treat you like a senior, and that she has to be a leader," said Hartland head coach Don Palmer. "This is what I expect, not exactly the great shooting. But, her having that 'floor-general' attitude."

In overtime, Dyer's last trey put Hartland up 46-43. The Eagles (1-0) would not lose the lead again, although a three-pointer at the buzzer shaved the final difference to one point.

The win came after the Hartland withstood a fourth-quarter comeback by the Tigers who went on an 11-3 run over five minutes that put Fenton (1-1) ahead until Dyer's key basket.

"Fenton had the advantage, they played on Wednesday night. So, I think they were more game-oriented than we were," Palmer said. "I was very pleased to win, I think we did enough to win, it was your typical opener against a very good team."

Hartland had built a 33-26 lead through three quarters by capitalizing on Fenton's 10 turnovers, most of them coming from steals. Senior guard Hailey Pleshakov led the team with four steals.

In addition to Dyer's 19 points, Pleshakov and senior center Kelly Holda also scored 10 points each to help pace the Eagles offense.

Hartland's next game is 7:30 p.m. Dec. 9 at Davison High School.