Sophie Daugard and Molly Deurloo have been basketball buds since second grade. They’ve gone through plenty of ups and downs throughout the years.
And they’ve been there for each other during bad breaks. Deurloo broke her finger earlier this year and Daugard broke her nose for the second time in a year. On Friday night the friends have one of the biggest games of their careers when they travel to Brighton to take on the Bulldogs in the WHMI-FM Game of the Week.
This is not a showdown for first place, but it is the next best thing for Howell, which hopes its new and improved zone press is the difference.
Brighton (9-6 overall, 7-2 in the KLAA West Division) needs a win to keep pace with first place Salem (11-5, 8-1) and end a second inexplicable three-game slump during which its lost those games by an average of 16.3 points.
Howell (12-4, 6-3) has won five of the last six games and hopes to avenge an earlier loss to Brighton.
“We are going to have to focus on ourselves,” Deurloo said. “You hate to lose key games. It hurts, but you can’t think about it. You have to move on. Even if we can’t win the conference there’s districts.”
The Howell and Brighton girls also see red when they face one another. It is a bitter rivalry where games often come down to the final moments. Howell has a chance to inflect a mortal wound to Brighton. No team outside of Livingston County has won the KLAA West Division. The Highlanders could make it more challenging for Brighton to catch Salem.
Why the dominance?
“I believe it has to do with the coaching,” Deurloo said. “Coaches know how to run the teams with what they have and the girls have the talent.”

ANOTHER HOWELL-BRIGHTON SHOWDOWN
The stakes are even bigger when the Brighton and Howell boys meet Friday night in Howell. First place is at stake. Howell (6-2 in league play) gets to play for a share of first place in the KLAA West during a home contest with Brighton (7-1).
Howell is tied for second with Canton but can change that with a win. It will be the second meeting between the two teams. Last month Howell rallied from 12 points down to beat Brighton 55-52 in overtime.