ANN ARBOR -- One by one Hartland players walked out of a silent and dazed locker room with swollen eyes, muffled tones and forced smiles.
This is the way the end of the season looked for Hartland following a 41-33 loss to Canton in the regional semifinals at Skyline High School. This seems to be the stage where Livingston County teams come to die.
Detroit Catholic Central has eliminated Brighton and Hartland in the last two regional semifinals one of the Big Three Livingston County teams have appeared in. Now it was Canton’s turn to do the dirty deed before an enthused group of fans eager to crown the next Division I champion.
The Eagles (20-5) folded under the relentless pressure of Canton’s defense. It was big boy basketball as officials allowed players to bump and grind. Hartland attempted to advance to Thursday’s regional final against Ann Arbor Huron without top player Parker Sundman who missed the last eight games with an ACL injury.
The physical brand of basketball suits Hartland well. Canton was better at it this evening. One play that might haunt the Eagles came with 3:00 remaining in the game. Forward John Eichburg (10 points) hustled for a loose ball, got knocked to the ground. No foul was called and Canton guard Jake Newman tossed in a three-point basket nine seconds later to extend Canton’s lead to 34-29.
“We like it (physical play),” Hartland coach Kevin Blouin said. “I think getting the ball up the court in the first quarter was the most stressed we were the whole game. Canton does a great job of playing physical. Their physicality worked for them in that regard. Overall, I think we were OK with it.>’
What wasn’t OK was Hartland’s shooting under harassment. The Eagles missed 14 of 17 three-point attempts and were just 2-9 in the second half.
“A lot of good looks,” Blouin said. “It’s tough to beat anybody, let alone a very good Canton team when you shoot such a low percentage. It was there. I thought we executed well enough. We just couldn’t finish.”
Hartland started the game with a roar. Literally. The first scream came from senior forward Kane Meyer who battled two Canton players for a loose ball less than 20 seconds into the game. The second came from Eichburg who hit a three-point shot and banked in a shot in traffic that gave Hartland an 11-4 lead.
Canton took its first lead, 18-16 late in the second quarter on a Newman three-point basket. Hartland never led in the fourth quarter but kept things close on the defensive end. However, Canton controlled the boards and slowly pulled away although Canton missed three free throws down the stretch.
Hartland’s dream season ends with a KLAA West Division and district title. A number of young guns return, including junior guard Logan Morrish who assumed Sundman’s role, and forward Coen Chwalek.
“The program is strong,” Blouin said. “The culture is strong and that is as much about the seniors rather than what coaches did. Having Parker down a lot of people thought these guys might fold. But we won a bunch of games, won the league and won a district. We got some guys coming back and some real good guys coming up from JV so we are excited about the future.”