Thursday's high schools: Lappin scores 16, Hartland girls down Wayne to repeat as KLAA tournament champs

Wayne — Hartland coach Don Palmer challenged junior guard Leah Lappin to come out aggressively on offense and she did just that to help Hartland repeat as KLAA tournament champions with a 48-30 win over Wayne on Thursday night.

Lappin scored a game-high 16, including seven in the opening quarter when Hartland set the tempo with a 14-6 lead.

Hartland — 14-0 and ranked No. 4 in The News Super 20 — increased the advantage to 27-16 at halftime. After Wayne pulled within 32-25 after the third quarter, Palmer went with a  1-3-1 zone,  which forced seven turnovers and matched the seven Wayne had committed in the opening quarter.

“Honestly it was a great feeling since I haven’t been shooting the best this season,” said Lappin, who made three free throws after being fouled on a 3-point shot, then knocked down a 3-pointer from the top of the key just over a minute later for the 12-4 cushion. “My Coach talked to me before the game and said you have to show up so it was a great feeling to push us ahead a little bit, then it brought us better on defense.”

Wayne (12-2) came in ranked No. 6, but didn’t play to that ranking since it was without 6-foot-2 Alanna Micheaux (Minnesota), who suffered a knee injury last week.

With Micheaux out, Hartland could concentrate on slowing Eastern Michigan-bound guard LaChelle Austin and 6-3 junior Davi’ Matthews.

“We really tried to focus on stopping the bigger girl (Matthews) because there was only one this time,” Lappin said. “We do have a great big, Lillee’s (Gustafson) awesome, so we had the matchups and then just played help defense.”

Wayne shot 25 percent from the field, missing nearly two dozen shots from within 5 feet of the basket.

“We brought energy today, I just think we had energy from the start and gave it our all,” said Hartland 6-1 senior Lillee Gustafson who had six points and eight rebounds and limited Matthews to four points on 2-of-9 shooting.

Sophomore guard Paris Bass scored 11 for Wayne — all in the second half — with Austin limited to seven, making just one 3-pointer in the second half. Bass’ 11 points and Austin’s 3-pointer accounted for all of Wayne’s second-half points.

“I felt 11 (Austin) was the key so Caddell is our best ball defender and I don’t know how she did, but she (Austin) wasn’t an impact,” said Palmer, pointing to 5-1 senior Syd Caddell’s defense as being a big key to the victory.

Hartland needed to play strong defense, shooting only 29 percent from the field, including 6-of-29 on 3-pointers, but knocking down 17-of-21 free throws, 9-of-10 during the fourth quarter.

More girls basketball

East English Village 44, Detroit Cristo Rey 41: Nicole Allen scored 18 with 12 assists, Tae Leonard scored 13 and Destiny Miller scored eight with 14 rebounds for East English Village (4-4). Melissa Flowers scored 21 for Cristo Rey (1-11). 

Riverview 47, Grosse Ile 13: Elyssa Kincaide scored 13 and Kylie Skidmore 12 for Riverview (13-2). Grosse Ile is 4-10.

Romulus 69, Dearborn Heights Annapolis 41: Ciara Hardy scored 32 and Dionna Carter 11 for Romulus (9-1). Mikayla Randle had 12 for Dearborn Annapolis (9-2).

Walled Lake Central 37, South Lyon East 13: Kylie Anderson had 15 for Walled Central (11-6). Lyon East is 7-2.

Westland John Glenn 50, Salem 46: Taylor Watkins-Johnson had 26 points and seven steals, and India Grissom scored 20 for John Glenn (7-7). Madison Morson scored 19 for Salem (1-13).

Girls scores

Catholic League

Clarkston Everest 37, Bloomfield Hills Sacred Heart 27

Huron

Flat Rock 53, Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central 25

Milan 49, Carleton Airport 36

Lakes Valley

White Lake Lakeland 57, South Lyon 33

OAA

Birmingham Seaholm 43, Oak Park 41

Clarkston 52, Birmingham Groves 49

Farmington 52, Ferndale University 23 

Lake Orion 47, Berkley 26

North Farmington 53, Bloomfield Hills 37 

Troy Athens 60, Auburn Hills Avondale 33 

Southeastern

Saline 69, Ann Arbor Huron 33 

Dexter 56, Jackson 35 

Monroe 57, Ypsilanti Lincoln 39

Ypsilanti 74, Ann Arbor Skyline 38

Western Wayne

Dearborn Heights Crestwood 41, Garden City 20

Others

Canton Prep 39, Livonia Clarenceville 34 

Chelsea 73, Manchester 35

Boys basketball

Austin Catholic 42, Landmark Academy 23: Tristan Cadelina scored 13, Ethan Fisher 10 and Lukas Bruni eight for Austin (5-7). Garrett Cartier scored 11 for Landmark (2-10).

Dearborn Edsel Ford 62, Garden City 29: Kevion Irby had 20 points and seven steals, and Caleb Smith scored 19 for Edsel Ford (6-7). Deyton Hubbs scored 16 for Garden City (0-12).

Ecorse 83, Detroit Cristo Rey 65: Malik Olafioye scored 31, Kenneth Morris Jr. 18, Dakario Valentine had 14 points and 12 rebounds, and Derrick Kemp 12 points and 10 assists for Ecorse (12-3). Alonzo Fears scored 31 and Jayden Wilson 15 for Cristo Rey (4-7).

Grosse Pointe South 62, Grosse Pointe North 51: Anthony Benard scored 23, Jacob Harris 11 and Will Johnson 10 for Grosse South (10-2). Adam Ayrault had 16 for Grosse South (4-6).

Harper Woods Chandler Park 60, Detroit Edison 45: Jaylan Randall had 20 points and 10 rebounds, and Dylan Grant 13 for Chandler Park (13-2). Detroit Edison is 10-3.

Romulus Summit Academy North 57, Warren Michigan Collegiate 35: Orlando Lovejoy scored 18 and James Wright and Dontez Scott Jr. each 13 for Romulus Summit (16-0). Deion Black had 14 for Michigan Collegiate (10-6).

Taylor Trillium Academy 56, Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard 46: Ronald Raybon had 15 points and 13 rebounds and Damaryon Fishburn scored 11 for Taylor Trillium (12-2). Christopher Chavey scored had nine for Gabriel Richard (6-9).

Boys scores

Huron

Grosse Ile 56, Milan 33

Lakes Valley

Walled Lake Central 43, South Lyon East 42

MAC

Hazel Park 79, Clinton Township Clintondale 35

Madison Heights Madison 58, Marine City 41

Romeo 64, Warren Woods Tower 48 

Southeastern

Ann Arbor Huron 66, Saline 40 

Ypsilanti Lincoln 61, Monroe 53 

Western Wayne

Redford Thurston 62, Dearborn Heights Robichaud 27