The Dexter girls’ basketball team wasn’t satisfied with winning a District title last week. They wanted more and headed out to Walled Lake Western on Tuesday night to try and get themselves another win and continue their season.
But they ran up against an experienced, big and extremely talented Hartland team and just didn’t have enough offense to keep up with the high-flying Eagles. Dexter started the game with strong defense but eventually Hartland got things going and opened up Regionals with a 45-24 win over Dexter.
Dexter was led in scoring by Ryleigh Bavineau with eight points. Kylee Niswonger and Nicole Tuzinaski each scored five and Sammi Corcoran scored four for the Dreadnaughts.
The loss did nothing to dampen a great season by the Dreadnaughts, who came on strong at the end of the season and last week swept all three Ann Arbor schools to win a District title.
The shot that put the game out of reach came with 2:39 left in the third quarter when Hartland’s Syd Caddell nailed a long three pointer to give the Eagles a commanding 32-15 lead. It just seemed at the time that Hartland was not going to be beat on this night.
Hartland led 34-18 after three quarters.
The Dreadnaughts started out strong. Well, Bavineau started out strong. The senior didn’t score in Dexter’s District final win over Pioneer but she jumped into the scorebook on her first shot of the Regional game. Her three-pointer and then her 15-foot jumper gave the Dreads an early 5-1 lead.
A floater in the lane by Niswonger gave Dexter a 7-5 lead. Hartland took an 8-7 lead but that only seemed to fire up the Dreads.
Kylie Cabana scored inside and then Niswonger, off a steal, pushed Dexter into an 11-8 lead. Hartland nailed a triple to send the game into the second quarter tied at 11-11.
A layup by Corcoran gave Dexter a 13-11 lead early in the second quarter but the Eagles took a 17-13 lead on a three-point basket midway through the quarter. A put-back by Hartland pushed their lead to 19-13.
Hartland led 21-13 at halftime with a basket just before the buzzer.
