Hockey playoff push coming for Brighton, Hartland, Howell after MIHL Showcase
Brighton and Hartland emerged from the Michigan Interscholastic Hockey League Showcase in Trenton with two victories over tough teams, while Howell learned some valuable lessons it hopes will translate into a long playoff run.
Hartland beat Warren De La Salle on Saturday in a shootout, 3-2 after winning 5-2 Friday over the Bay Reps.
Brighton beat the Bay Reps 6-1 Saturday after winning 5-1 Friday over Green Bay Notre Dame.
Howell went 0-2, losing 5-2 to East Grand Rapids on Saturday after a 4-2 loss Friday to Toledo St. Francis.
Hartland (16-5-1), ranked No. 2 in Division 1, has won 11 of its last 12 games, all but one against state-ranked opponents. There are two regular-season weeks remaining before regionals.
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“I’d be confident in where we’re at if it was a one-game elimination tournament starting today,” Hartland coach Rick Gadwa said. “I think our team’s grown a ton through the year. I think we’ve learned some valuable lessons. At the end of the day, it’s about execution. Our guys know that, so a lot of that has to do with your preparation. We’ve been preparing well; it’s just putting it all together here for the end.”
Against De La Salle (12-6-2), the No. 4 team in Division 2, Drake Fletemier’s goal for Hartland with 11:56 left in the third period tied the game 2-2. Hartland’s Ian Kastamo scored on the first shot of the shootout. Brady Hubenschmidt stopped all three shots he faced in the shootout.
Eli Sturos scored Hartland’s other goal.
"I've been going down there for 10 years or so," Gadwa said. "It's the same every year, just great. It's high-level hockey. They're showcasing the best in the state, so it's really neat. Players take that in. For me every year, I feel like that showcase really starts the beginning of that playoff stretch that's coming."
With its two victories in Trenton, Brighton is 7-0-1 in its last eight games heading into the KLAA championship game against Salem at 7 p.m. Friday at Victory Ice Center.
The Bulldogs have been heavily reliant on all-state forwards Cam Duffany and Lane Petit for scoring this season, but got production from other sources against the Bay Reps. Aiden Seiter scored twice, while Duffany, Tim Peterson, Marek Alent and Charlie Burchfield had the other goals.
Ryan Nickerson made 16 saves for Brighton (17-4-1), ranked fourth in Division 1.
“It was good to see that scoring spread out a little bit in that game,” Brighton coach Kurt Kivisto said. “Even in the game Friday, everybody played well. Cam’s line just happened to produce goals for us.”
In Friday’s game, the Bulldogs played against a Notre Dame squad coached by former Brighton player Mike Szkodzinski.
“We were looking forward to that and hoping for that matchup,” Kivisto said. “Their coach played for Brighton in the mid-‘90s. I’ve known him a long time. It was fun to play against him and his squad.”
Howell, ranked fifth in Division 1, was in close games that got away against St. Francis and East Grand Rapids.
The Highlanders (14-8-1) led 2-1 before allowing back-to-back shorthanded goals against St. Francis. Howell led 1-0 and was tied 2-2 on goals by Rory Sturos and Cade Katlin against East Grand Rapids before the Pioneers (17-5) scored the final three goals.
“The experience of going down to Trenton is fantastic,” Howell coach Rocky Johnson said. “It’s the granddaddy of all showcases. They do a great job there at Trenton and that rink, Kennedy Ice Center. We love going down there.
"The teams they paired us against were perfect. They did a great job with that. They definitely stretched us. They’re teams we could’ve beaten if we had not made mistakes. I’m happy with the process. The team learned a lot and it’s gonna prep us for playoff season.”
Wrestling
CAAC tournament
Fowlerville finished third out of 21 teams with 182 points. Mason won with 228.5, followed by Grand Ledge with 210.
Matt Jeffrey (39-4) won a championship at 106 and Brock Foster (30-7) took first at 157 to lead the Gladiators.
Levi Baker was second at 138. Connor Stankov (126), Richard Davis (175) and Layne O’Neil (215) took third for Fowlerville.
SEC tournament
Pinckney finished eighth out of 14 teams.
Drake Hurley was second at 157 to lead the Pirates. Christian Gregory (106) and Eli Smith (165) had fourth-place finishes.
Girls wrestling
CAAC tournament
Fowlerville was first out of 15 scoring teams with 189 points, 48 more than runner-up Eaton Rapids.
Cayden Taylor, Anna Buurma, Morgan Jenks, Hannah Blyveis, Maggie Buurma and Kiely Davis won championships for the Gladiators.
Gymnastics
Canton Invitational
Howell’s Maria Petru was third all-around with a score of 36.925 and Brighton’s Anna Browne was fifth with a 35.975.
Howell took eighth out of 18 teams, scoring 135.775 points. Brighton was ninth with 133.4.
Petru was second on floor (9.575), third on beam (9.55) and fifth on bars (9.05). Browne was seventh on floor (9.1) and bars (8.9).
Swimming and diving
Plymouth 104, Hartland 82
Tyler Davis won the 200-yard freestyle (1:47.83) and 100 butterfly (53.38), Issac Davis won the 50 freestyle (21.68) and 100 freestyle (48.94), and Jack Losert won diving (248.25 points) for Hartland.
Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@gannett.com. Follow him on X @BillKhan
This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Playoff push coming for Brighton, Hartland, Howell after MIHL Showcase
