Nothing comes easy for Brighton’s boy’s basketball team these days.
The Bulldogs were locked in another Texas Death match Friday night against Hartland, but instead of falling apart at the end as was the case during a brutal six-loss in eight game stretch, they found a way to survive.
Brighton (13-7 overall, 8-5 in the KLAA) won, but only after two desperation three-point shots by Hartland’s Logan Morrish (16 points with 14 coming in the second half) and Zane King clanked off the rim during the final 10 seconds of a two-point game. King’s miss came at the buzzer and only then could Brighton fans breathe a sigh of relief.
“We have faced a lot of adversity in close games,” guard Brandon Lovejoy said. “We have finally figured out how to win.”
Brighton is not in this fight simply to win games. The Bulldogs want to hang banners. The KLAA title is out of reach. Hartland (11-2 in the KLAA) had already clinched the title before the two teams played. Brighton (8-5 in the conference) pulled into a three-way tie for second place along with Howell and Canton.
There are two missions left for Brighton – to get better as a team and to win a second straight Division I district title at Howell. The Bulldogs believe they are inching toward that goal because of the win and even because of the losses.
”Absolutely,” Brighton coach Taylor Langley said. “Failure is the opportunity for learning and growth. For us, I look at it as you have to miss and fail a couple of times before you have the right to succeed. We have failed enough.”
You know you are going to get an honest night’s work whenever the Bulldogs play. Brighton lost three of its six games by five points or less. In all six the Bulldogs let chances slip during the last four minutes of games. There was a missed assignment here, a missed shot there.
It almost happened again against Hartland. Up 41-39 with 23.5 seconds left sophomore Isaac Gardner had a chance to seal the game at the free throw line. However, he missed both attempts, giving Hartland life.
Langley saw promise in the two misses. He is confident Gardner will thrive in that situation next time after experiencing failure. The mission for success is not over.
The Bulldogs won’t hang a conference championship banner, but the Howell district championship looms and a possible rematch against Hartland, which has cooled off after winning 14 games in a row. These teams split their regular season series with Hartland winning 64-57 at home against 10-1 Brighton
“We have a lot of work to do,” Lovejoy said.
Center Dylan Edgeworth scored 11 points for Brighton and CJ Sageman added 10.
“It’s about getting better,” Brighton coach Taylor Langley said. “We are so far from a complete product and our guys are getting closer and closer. A win like this helps. We talk about being an elite team. Elite teams play great basketball consistently. We play great basketball from time to time.”
Hartland has lost two of its last three games to rivals Howell and Brighton. Before that the Eagles won 14 games in a row to take control of the league. Much of the damage came without leading scorer Parker Sundman.