Inside knowledge helps Brighton girls basketball beat Howell in game of wild swings
BRIGHTON — Brighton coach Bob Wellman had someone else in mind to guard one of the most dangerous scorers in Livingston County, but senior Noelle Ebel talked him out of it.
For Ebel, the opportunity to go one-on-one against Howell sophomore Gabby Piepho was personal.
Not personal in a mean-spirited way, but because the two are good friends despite the rivalry between their schools.
Perhaps that gives Ebel a little inside information that other opponents lack.
“I shut her down the first time,” said Ebel, who blocked a 3-point attempt by Piepho in the first half. “I kept her to six. I felt like I could do it again and I could actually step up to the job.
“It makes it so much more fun to play with her, because I’m like best friends with her. I know a lot of how she plays, so that helps me guard her as well.”
It’s difficult to completely shut down a player like Piepho, who has reached 30 points twice this season, but limiting her makes it easier to beat Howell.
Piepho finished with 10 points, but didn’t score until 5:51 remained in the third quarter, as Brighton survived a game of wild momentum swings to win, 42-35, Friday in a clash between two of the three teams who entered the night tied for first in the KLAA West.
“They played together when they were younger,” Wellman said. “So, she knows Gabby a little bit, just like Gabby knows her. She has some tendencies that Noelle understands. Noelle came to me and said, ‘I want to take her again. I know what she does and I want to do that’ and she did that. It was nice to see she wanted to step up and do that.”
Brighton is tied for first place in the division with Canton at 8-3 in large part because of the leadership of seniors like Ebel and Sophia Moir. Contending for a KLAA West championship didn’t seem possible when the Bulldogs started the season 0-5, including one league loss.
Moir scored 10 points and grabbed nine rebounds, scoring two big fourth-quarter baskets that helped Brighton turn the momentum after a huge third-quarter surge by the Highlanders.
“As a senior, I like to try to keep our energy levels high,” Moir said. “Our coaches are always nagging on that, but it really does come from within. It’s easier to get it from another teammates rather than being yelled at or something by your coach. I try to keep our energy level high, try not to let it go too far down, because then we get too down on ourselves and it’s not very fun.”
The game was defined by long stretches of momentum by each team.
Brighton scored 17 straight points in the first half to begin a 23-3 run that gave the Bulldogs a 25-7 halftime lead.
Howell needed only one quarter to not only erase that lead, but move in front. With Alison Farr scoring 10 points and Piepho eight, the Highlanders took a 28-27 lead into the fourth.
But, just like that, the Bulldogs regained momentum by scoring six points in the first 1:09 of the fourth. Brighton built a 39-32 lead with 1:34 left. A 3-pointer by Howell’s Kylie Pung cut the lead to 39-35 with 1:18 remaining, but the Highlanders wouldn’t score again.
Farr scored all seven of Howell’s first-half points and finished with 19.
The Highlanders fell to 7-4 in the division with three games remaining, including a game at co-leader Canton at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.
“If we take care of our business and we win out, we’ll probably have a good chance of being tied,” Howell coach Jason Piepho said. “The way the league goes, there’s probably somebody who’s going to get Brighton at some point. We’ve just got to take care of business and be ready when it happens. If it doesn’t, we finish out and gain some momentum going into districts.”
Brighton freshman Gracyn Houck had 11 points and 10 rebounds off the bench.
Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@gannett.com. Follow him on X @BillKhan
This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Brighton girls basketball beats Howell to remain tied atop KLAA West
