Brighton holds off Northville, sits alone atop KLAA West girls basketball race

Northville’s Nikki Grech boxes out Brighton’s Payton VanDeven in the Mustangs’ 43-41 loss Friday, Jan. 13, 2023.

NORTHVILLE — Sometime between the final play of the game and her postgame interview, Makena Smith relinquished the basketball.

Brighton’s Payton VanDeven drives toward the basket while defended by Northville’s Lauren Talcott during the Bulldogs’ 43-41 victory on Friday, Jan. 13, 2023.

But she wasn’t giving it up easily, still holding it after the final buzzer as she sprinted toward teammates on the Brighton bench to celebrate a 43-41 victory Friday night at Northville in a clash for first place in the KLAA West.

Northville trailed by 10 points with 7:31 left in the game, but was down by only two when Evelyn Deren inbounded the ball near the Mustangs’ bench following a timeout with 2.5 seconds left. The pass was dropped and the ball bounced up to Smith, who completed a career night by making the final steal.

“It got played in, but the girl kind of bobbled with it,” Smith said. “I grabbed the ball and held it for dear life so she wouldn’t get it and score, because we were up by two. It was a really great feeling. Last year, we lost to them twice. This year, we were able to beat them. I’m just really proud of my team.

“It was just such a great feeling. Holding the ball was like a sigh of relief. The last minute was kind of stressful.”

Brighton’s Makena Smith, who scored a career-high 16 points, shoots over Northville’s Nikki Grech during the Bulldogs’ 43-41 victory on Friday, Jan. 13, 2023.

The Bulldogs’ fifth straight victory after an 0-3 start leaves them alone atop the KLAA West with a 4-0 division record. Northville fell to 3-1 to drop into a second-place tie with Salem, which beat Hartland for the first time since 2013, 48-38.

Brighton’s Olivia Lutz (5) shoots over Northville’s Nikki Grech during the Bulldogs’ 43-41 victory on Friday, Jan. 13, 2023.

“We call it we’re 5-0 now instead of 5-3,” Smith said. “We don’t count the three at the beginning of the season. It’s a new season; we’re here to win.”

On a rare off night by leading scorer Mary Copple, Smith carried much of the offensive load by scoring a career-high 16 points. Smith, better known for her rebounding, averaged 4.8 points coming into the game. Smith was 6-for-7 at the line, making her 15-for-19 this season.

“I noticed they were fouling a lot more than other teams, so I wanted to take those shots to get to the line,” Smith said. “I’ve been practicing my free throws in practice, and so I’ve gotten a little bit better at that. I wanted to showcase that a little bit.”

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Copple, who was averaging 16.3 points, scored all four of her points at the free throw line in the second half. Susy Heller had the primary responsibility of guarding Copple.

“If you told me at the start of the game that she wouldn’t have a bucket tonight, I’d feel pretty good about our chances,” Northville coach Todd Gudith said. “I don’t know if that’s ever happened for her. Maybe when she was really little and couldn’t shoot and hit the basket, because that kid can score, and score in bunches.

“So, to hold her to not baskets was great, but at the same time she’s smart enough to figure out if things aren’t falling for her, she needs to get her teammates involved. She did a really nice job of getting her teammates involved. We maybe focused a little too much on her and lost track of a couple of her teammates.”

Brighton’s Mary Copple and Northville’s Lauren Talcott (1) battle for a loose ball during the Bulldogs’ 43-41 victory on Friday, Jan. 13, 2023.

Brighton, coming off a big victory Tuesday night at Howell, fell behind 9-0 in the first five minutes. Much like Northville did one week earlier after trailing 11-2 early at Hartland, the Bulldogs erased the deficit before halftime.

Brighton’s Julia Viau drives the baseline during a 43-41 victory over Northville on Friday, Jan. 13, 2023.

Noelle Ebel came off the bench to hit two 3-pointers, the second of which gave Brighton its first lead at 20-18 with a minute left in the first half.

The Bulldogs led 22-18 at halftime and extended their lead to 35-25 with 1:41 left in the third quarter. They were still up by 10 at 38-28 with 7:31 remaining in the game when Northville made its run.

Sydney Brown scored seven fourth-quarter points to spark the rally. She was fouled on a 3-point attempt with 8.3 seconds left and Brighton leading 42-39. Brown missed the first shot and hit the next two.

Smith was fouled with 6.3 seconds left and went 1-for-2 from the line, giving Northville more options on its final possession. The Mustangs called timeout with 2.5 seconds left before committing a turnover on the inbounds play.

Brighton’s Noelle Ebel and Northville’s Susy Heller (12) battle for a loose ball during the Bulldogs’ 43-41 victory on Friday, Jan. 13, 2023.

“This is going to be a great learning tool,” Brighton coach Bob Wellman said. “I don’t think we performed as well as we should have in the end. There’s some things we’ve got to learn as a basketball team; how to take care of the basketball late when you’ve got a lead, what you’ve got to do and then be able to finish the game. It was nice to get the win, especially here on the road against a really good basketball team, but we’ve got some learning to do still.”

Brighton will play its third consecutive road game against one of the top teams in the division Tuesday night at Hartland.

As Salem proved by beating Hartland Friday, this is shaping up to be the most competitive season ever in the KLAA West.

“I said at the very beginning during our preseason stuff I’d be stunned if somebody walked out of here undefeated in the division,” Gudith said. “It’s just that tight. You saw tonight, it’s a single-digit game and there’s going to be a ton of those single-digit games all year. It’s anybody’s game. We’re only four games in. We’re not even at the halfway point yet. Nobody’s out of it and there’s going to be a lot of teams who are going to have a say in who ends up winning this thing.”

Heller had 15 points and Brown nine for the Mustangs (9-2 overall).

Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @BillKhan.

This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Brighton holds off Northville, sits alone atop KLAA West girls basketball