LAUER POWER: Senior sharpshooter lifts Novi to KLAA West title
Novi senior Trey Tesorero releases a shot over Northville’s Marcus Hudson.
Like clockwork Monday night, Novi senior Aaron Lauer secured passes just beyond the three-point line and launched high-arcing jumpers that found nothing but gold at the end of their rainbow-like flight trajectories.
When the clock struck midnight during the always-intense Northville-at-Novi regular-season finale that would determine the champion of the KLAA West Division, Lauer had amassed six catch-and-shoot threes (and 22 points total) — every bucket, it turned out, essential as the Wildcats held off the Mustangs, 49-47.
After taking the ball out of bounds with 8.2 seconds remaining, Northville’s two decent shots at the rim came up empty, triggering a massive mid-court celebration that meshed Novi players with their jubilant student cheering section.
“This feels great,” Lauer said moments after the final buzzer sounded, a celebratory buzz still emanating throughout the gym. “I wouldn’t want to do this against any other team than our rival.
Shooter’s mentality
“My shot has been feeling really good the past couple of game and I felt great during pre-game warm-ups. Shooting is what I do and my teammates were getting me the ball when I was open, so credit to them.”
Now 17-4 overall (according to klaaconferencesports.org), the Wildcats earned a spot in Thursday’s KLAA conference championship game against Wayne Memorial, which is ranked as high as No. 3 in some Division 1 polls.
Novi Head Coach Chris Housey said Monday’s victory clinched the Wildcats’ first divisional title since he took over the head-coaching reins before the 2018-19 season.
The Wildcats’ only two divisional losses were both 1-point barn-burners to Brighton and Canton.
(To check out video highlights from Monday’s game, click here.)
‘Four-quarter battle’
“I feel great for our kids,” Housey said. “They work so hard and deserve this. We beat a great team tonight. Northville always comes at us prepared, focused and disciplined. We knew it was going to be a battle for four quarters.
“As far as Aaron goes, he’s such a great player. We brought him up to varsity as a sophomore and he’s been shooting the lights out for us ever since. The thing about Aaron is that he’s not only a great shooter, he’s a great leader.”
The top scorers for Novi other than Lauer were senior Brendon Lynch and junior Matthew Floros, who both scored five.
Northville was paced by junior Nate-Isiah Imbuzeiro, who contributed 12 points, and senior Marcus Hudson, who added 10.
Containing Grezak
Novi did a nice job of limiting the number of good looks for Mustang leading scorer Brody Grezak, who scored nine. Reserve Ryan Young also tallied nine points for the Mustangs.
Wildcat senior Michael Schave’s triple just before the third-quarter buzzer extended the hosts’ lead to 43-35, but the resilient Mustangs were not about to throw in the towell.
Trailing 46-41 with just over three minutes to play, Northville chiseled its deficit down to one thanks to back-to-back buckets from Kaden Kuban and Imbuzeiro.
Novi answered with a basket by Lynch, who stretched the Wildcats’ lead to 48-45 with 1:59 left.
Mustangs didn’t go away
Hudson countered with a hard-earned layup, bringing Northville to within 48-47.
Novi’s Colin Edwards split a pair of free throws to make it 49-47 with 11.7 seconds remaining.
After Novi fouled the Mustangs twice (the Wildcats had committed just two team fouls leading up to the late-game drama), Northville took the ball out of bounds with 8.2 seconds on the clock. The Mustangs worked the ball in the paint for a decent shot, but couldn’t knock down a potential game-tying attempt.
As the postgame celebration continued around him Monday night, Housey admitted he wanted to enjoy the euphoria that goes along with winning the division (Novi was picked to finish fourth in a pre-season coaches poll) before thinking about playing Wayne.
“I know Wayne is really, really good,” he said. “They’re a tough team. but I have confidence in our guys.”
The KLAA championship game is set for Friday at 7 p.m. at Northville High School.
Ed Wright can be reached at 734-664-4657 or edwright@socialhousenews.com.
