Hartland broke open a five-point halftime lead with a 16-3 third-quarter run.
HARTLAND — It helps to have a mother who played major college basketball when feelings get hurt playing for an old-school coach. Does Hartland coach Don Palmer yell occasionally — or more than occasionally — at senior Lauren Sollom during practice or timeouts? “I never yell at her,” Palmer said with a grin. Sure, he does. But Sollom can take her place at the back of a long line of players who have experienced Palmer’s tough love during a coaching career that began in 1974. Sollom’s mother, Dianne, played against Palmer’s Milford teams at Walled Lake Western before going on to Michigan State University. She can offer a perspective few parents can when her daughter needs to be talked off the ledge. “My mom has always told me if coach Palmer or any coach just stops yelling at me, it’s not a good thing,” Sollom said. “Personally, not in the moment sometimes, I don’t take how he says it, but I take in what he says. Obviously, nobody wants to get yelled at. A couple minutes after that, I’m like, “I need this. He’s here to support me, to coach me, to make me a better player than I was yesterday.’” Sollom is certainly a better player than she’s been at any point during her four-year varsity career at Hartland.
