Howell makes statement against No. 1 Belleville, winning 59-51
Howell’s Lilly Williams drives into the teeth of the Belleville defense during Thursday’s KLAA championship game.
The combination of two sparkplugs (Gabby Piepho and Lyla Valentine) and one engine (Lilly Williams) had Howell’s girls basketball team purring like a Lamborghini Thursday night against No. 1-ranked Belleville.
The Highlanders captured their first KLAA championship in quite some time as they built an early 25-12 lead over the Tigers before holding on for a statement-making 59-51 triumph.
Now 21-1, Howell will open MHSAA district play Wednesday at 7 p.m. at home against the winner of Monday’s Brighton-Hartland clash.
Williams, the Highlanders’ Miss Basketball finalist, scored 25 points and grabbed 15 rebounds. On the defensive end, when she wasn’t blocking shots, she was altering them.
Stars galore
Piepho, the sweet-shooting daughter of Head Coach Jason Piepho, added 14 points while Lyla Valentine, only a sophomore and the smallest player on the court all night, added points and near-flawless play from the point guard position.
Belleville’s potent one-two punch of Sydney Savoury (21 points) and Se’crette Carter (16 points) powered the Tigers’ offense.
The game featured two 2026 Miss Basketball finalists (Williams and Carter) and at least one potential future Miss Basketball finalist in Savoury, who is only a junior.
“Belleville is a great team, so we knew we had to bring our A game tonight,” said Gabby Piepho, whose and-one following the offensive rebound of a free throw sealed the win for the Highlanders in the final minute.
‘Complete faith’
“We have complete faith in one another throughout the whole game.”
When asked about her pivotal bucket after an offensive rebound, Piepho respectfully chose to talk about the team effort.
“Not one play dictates that game,” said Piepho, who will play for Northwood University beginning in the fall. “I mean, it took Lilly’s blocks, Norah’s (Hull) defense on Syd — it took everybody.”
Howell bolted to a 21-12 lead after one quarter as Williams poured in 10, Piepho netted eight and Savannah Hohn chipped in a long three.
Tigers storm back
The Highlanders extended the lead to 32-22 at the half before Belleville cut its deficit to 42-37 with eight minutes to play.
“Coming into this game, the pressure was on (Belleville),” Ron Piepho said. “They’re the No. 1 team in the state and 12th in the nation and they have highly-ranked players all over the place. We just had to come out and play.
“We’ve felt a little disrespected all year, so we channeled that and fed off our defense. Even though we were up 10 in the first half, we knew they’d come back. We weathered their comeback and made plays down the stretch. Lyla and Gabby made some big shots and Lil was super consistent.”
Back-to-back triples by Savoury brought Belleville to within 46-43 with 4:30 left.
Preserving the lead
The closest Belleville got to the Highlanders down the stretch was 52-50 when Carter followed her three on one possession with two free throws the next.
But Howell countered with an and-one by Williams with 2:09 to play.
The Piephos are both savoring Gabby’s final season of high school basketball.
“I love playing for my dad,” Gabby said. “He’s been my coach my whole life and I couldn’t think of anyone better to coach us. That we get to share in this experience is amazing.”
Jason Piepho concurred.
‘Fun ride’
“It’s been a fun ride,” he said. “I’ve coached Gabby and a couple of her teammates since they were really young. When the previous coached stepped down after Gabby’s freshman year, I was more than happy to step in.”
Williams, who was home-schooled until her senior year, said she has nothing but fond memories from this magical season.
“It’s fun to see how much we’ve grown as a team,” she said. “Winning as much as we have proves how much we work at this game.
“But it’s on to the next game. We have to be ready to keep working and move on.”
Two stars, one team
On an interesting side note, Williams and Savoury played on the same AAU team, the Michigan Mystics, for multiple years.
“I think we had a two- or three-year winning streak,” she said, smiling.
In addition to being named a Miss Basketball finalist, Williams was selected to play in the prestigious McDonald’s All-American game next month.
“I was watching the selections on TV before a practice,” she recounted. “I was getting nervous because I didn’t see my name for a while before I realized they were doing it in alphabetical order.”
If you missed Thursday’s blockbuster, you may get another chance to watch these two teams in a rematch. If they both win their respective districts, as expected, they would face one another again in a regional semifinal game March 9 at 7 p.m. at Northville.
Ed Wright can be reached at 734-664-4657 or edwright@socialhousenews.com.
