By Sports Editor: Danielle Hamilton
Looking at the girls varsity basketball team record and statistics from school last year, you would not expect them to have the season that they did this year. Last year, Howell’s season ended in the district semifinal. This year, it lasted until the regional semifinal.
The major difference between this year and last year is coaching. Lee Piepho returned to coach this school year. He coached girls varsity basketball at Howell several years ago and led them to the state finals in 1996. He has an outstanding record as a coach. After coaching varsity for a number of years, he coached the Highlander Way middle school teams, up until this year. Piepho is well known around Howell and is often known as a legend.
Howell finished second in the league this season, behind Brighton. Howell split with both Brighton and Hartland, but Brighton beat Hartland twice putting them on top. Last year, Howell lost to Hartland and Brighton both times they met. Howell also finished fourth in the league last year.
“We came a long way this year. Piepho had an immediate impact on this team,” says senior guard Maggie Jenison.
In districts, Howell faced both Brighton and Hartland again. Howell drew a bye for the first round of districts. Brighton beat South Lyon East in the first round, so they matched up with Howell in semifinals.
Since Howell and Brighton had each beaten each other once during the regular season, the game could have gone either way. After an intense 32 minutes of play, Howell took the win, 46-32. Howell played incredible defense to shut down Brighton’s biggest strength: their inside game. The next opponent to go up against Howell was Hartland, who has been district champs for the past four years.
The district final game is not something Howell has even been to in the past of couple years. Hartland has beaten Howell in the past in the district semifinal game to end Howell’s season. This year was different.
Howell beat Hartland in the district final game 36-28. Howell only trailed once in the game by one point in the first quarter. The remainder of the game was all Howell’s. They carried over their defense from their previous game and did not let Hartland into the arc as much as they wanted to be.
“It was the best feeling to finally win a district title and to beat Hartland. They have a very respectable program. I’m so happy all of our hard work paid off. We have worked toward this for about eight months now,” says four-year varsity player, senior Tess Weatherly, who led the team with 13 points.
The regional semifinal game was the next step for Howell. This was also Howell’s first appearance in regionals in nine years. They took on the Lakeland Eagles, who they played twice throughout the season already. Howell won one of the meetings and Lakeland one the other.
Coming off of two strong wins, unfortunately, was not enough for the Highlanders. Howell fell to Lakeland 37-32, ending their season.
Despite the loss in the regional semifinal, Howell had a season to remember. With the help of Coach Piepho, these girls turned girls basketball back into a winning program.
“I think we definitely earned respect back for Howell girls basketball. I’m glad I had some impact on the program,” says Weatherly. She will continue her basketball career at Northern Michigan University.
