Prep roundup: Howell hockey overcomes layoff, bus legs to win in U.P.
Howell’s hockey team had every excuse in the book to come out flat Friday night.
The Highlanders hadn’t played in 13 days and were taking on Hancock after making a 520-mile bus trip the previous day.
Excuses? Howell didn’t need no stinkin’ excuses.
The Highlanders, ranked fourth in the state Division 1 poll, stayed undefeated with a 3-2 victory over the Bulldogs, who are No. 8 in Division 3.
Marco Wolf scored the winning goal with 10:40 left in the game. Hancock had tied the score 2-2 on a power play goal by Tevin Stukel 51 seconds into the third.
“That’s obviously in the back of your mind as a coach, with the time off and legs,” Howell coach Rocky Johnson said. “We had a nice pregame skate at the rink. That was huge for the boys. We have 10 seniors on this team, so they were ready to go. At the end of the day, it was a very hard-fought win against a really strong team.”
Tanner Sauve scored in the first period, and Ben Huotari scored in the second for Howell (3-0), which last played Nov. 18 against Novi.
Hancock entered the game with a 3-0-1 record, including a 3-3 tie with Hartland on Nov. 19.
"It was a gritty win, something we needed," Johnson said. "The kids came through at the end."
Howell will complete its Upper Peninsula trip Saturday at Calumet.
Brighton 4, Northville 0
Brighton, the No. 2 team in Division 1, was outshot 22-14 but got a shutout in net from all-stater Levi Pennala.
The Bulldogs took six penalties in the second period but still managed two goals in the middle frame.
“I don’t know if we had two or three shots in that period and we scored on both of them,” Brighton coach Kurt Kivisto said. “It was a sloppy period, a lot of time in the box, a lot of time in our own end.”
Cam Duffany gave Brighton a 1-0 lead after one period. Lane Petit and Freddie Londo scored in the second before Petit scored an empty-netter with 28 seconds left. That goal extended Petit’s season-opening streak of multi-point games to six games.
“When he keeps his game simple and shoots the puck and plays going north, he does a really good job,” Kivisto said. “He has such a good shot, such a good release when he’s coming in off the wing. He’s pretty dangerous.”
Petit has nine goals and four assists.
Hartland 8, Canton 0
Luca DiGirolamo and Jake Pietila each scored twice for sixth-ranked Hartland (3-2-1) on Thursday.
Braelon Rodriguez, LJ Sabala, Johnny Peffer and Michael Zielinski had the other goals.
Brady Hubenschmidt made 13 saves for the shutout in a game that ended with 7:16 left in the third period via the mercy rule.
Brighton 9, Livonia United 0
On Wednesday, Duffany had three goals and one assist, while Petit and Charlie Burchfield each scored twice for Brighton.
Brighton led 7-0 after one period of the two-period game.
Ryan Nickerson made 14 saves for the shutout. Zack Helminen and Sean McLaren scored Brighton’s other goals.
Boys basketball
Hartland 39, Lakeland 35
Hartland continues to push last season further into the rear-view mirror.
The Eagles are off to a 2-0 start, allowing only 35 points in victories over Flushing and Lakeland. Hartland was 7-17 last season, needing six games to get its second victory.
“They’re confident kids,” Hartland coach Kevin Blouin said. “They believe in themselves. They expect to win every night we go out there. We, as a unit, think we can play with anybody that we play.”
Hartland sophomore Parker Sundman scored 12 points, eight of which came in the third quarter. Cyrus Gray and Vance King had 10 points each for the Eagles.
Brady Quinn took a charge with 1:19 left, and King blocked a shot with 25 seconds left to help Hartland protect its slim lead.
“It was a gritty game, kind of a possession-by-possession game,” Blouin said. “Both teams I thought played really tough, stout defense the entire night. It was just kind of a slugfest.”
RELATED: 18 points only part of story for Howell's Andrew Weber in opening win
Jackson Northwest 55, Pinckney 43
Caden Carlson scored 15 points, and Eli Luoma added 11 for Pinckney (0-2).
Michigan Center 47, Charyl Stockwell 31
Parker Olejniczak scored 11 points, while Drew Goodwin and Sam Siebert had eight each for Stockwell (1-1).
Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@gannett.com. Follow him on X @BillKhan
This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Prep roundup: Howell hockey overcomes layoff, bus legs to win in U.P.
