Gorham Twins Setting Scoring Pace as Mendon Climbs Into League, District Contention
By
Scott Hassinger
Special for MHSAA.com
February 10, 2026
MENDON – After another stellar football season, Mendon is making some big waves on the basketball court as well this winter.
As the 2025-26 regular season winds down, and coming off a run to the 8-Player Football Regional Finals with some of the same players leading the way, the Hornets are enjoying their finest season on the hardwood in many years. Under second-year head coach Matt Gorham, they are 16-1 overall, with a 10-0 record in the Southern Central Athletic Association West following an 84-40 win Monday in a divisional contest at Bellevue.
Mendon, which hosts its Division 4 District later this month, is looking to win its first league title in boys hoops since 2014 and raise its first District trophy in the sport since 2015.
Two of the biggest catalysts in Mendon's pursuit of those two goals are senior guards and twin brothers Ryder Gorham and Owen Gorham. Both four-year varsity letterwinners went over the 1,000-point mark for their respective careers this winter and are the sons of the Hornets' head coach.
Ryder and Owen have experienced both the good and lean times during their careers. During their freshman season, Mendon finished with an 11-14 record before attaining back-to-back winning seasons as sophomores (12-11) and juniors (14-9).
"Mendon has always had good athletes. When I got here, I wanted to bring a professional look to the program in terms of preparing for teams, practicing hard and teaching life skills so that when they get out of here they are better people with a competitive nature," said Matt Gorham, who is employed as an agent for State Farm Insurance in Battle Creek and brought more than 25 years of coaching experience from Vicksburg, Portage Central, Portage Northern, Mattawan, Schoolcraft and Kalamazoo Valley Community College.
Gorham, who previously owned a business training athletes, got involved last spring as an assistant track & field coach at Mendon. That helped him build a better rapport with his current players.
"The kids have gotten to know me, and having two kids myself in the school helps,” he said. “I give last year's seniors that we had on the team a great deal of credit. They helped set the tone for the kids we had coming back. This year it was a matter of rinse and repeat, let's get a bit more focused and prepare better.”
Team speed and unselfishness are two of Mendon's biggest weapons.
Ryder Gorham, the Hornets' point guard, is averaging 24.3 points, 4.1 rebounds, 7.1 assists and 4.6 steals per game.
"Having been on varsity four years really helps. The pace of the game is much faster. I've always played against older and bigger guys, so it just helps the game come to me more naturally,' Ryder Gorham said.
Mendon is averaging 69.6 points per game and owns a pair of overtime wins over divisional rival Colon (80-75 and 80-73). The Hornets' lone loss came 78-65 in another overtime thriller against Hillsdale Academy. Those two schools could meet again in the Division 4 Quarterfinals.
"Our defense generates most of our offense most of the time. We like to just get out and run,” Ryder Gorham said. “This team can set up plays, but we prefer to score a majority of our points in transition because most of the teams we play are bigger than us."
Ryder Gorham poured in a game-high 36 points in Monday's win at Bellevue. That effort pushed his career total to 1,344 points, surpassing the school record of David Schrock, who previously held the mark with 1,320. Ryder also owns school records for career 3-point field goals made at 141 and steals with 236. Owen Gorham is second in career steals at Mendon with 226.
"It all starts with Ryder. He makes us go and is a special player when the ball is in his hands,” Matt Gorham said. “He's an extremely great passer and establishes the tempo for us. Our biggest trick was to get Ryder's outside shot going so he could get more 3s up. He can drive, finish well and get to the free-throw line too."
Ryder loves the chemistry he and his brother Owen have developed by playing together throughout their high school careers.
"It's awesome being on the same court with my brother. We've been playing together our entire lives. We have that chemistry and know when each of us is hitting their shots. Our dad sometimes jumps on us a little more, but that's the way it's supposed to be," Ryder Gorham said.
Owen Gorham, a shooting guard, is averaging 18 points, 8.4 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 4.2 steals per game.
"My job is just to try and score any way I can. I feel like I've improved my rebounding the most over last season, and outworking people," Owen Gorham said.
"Owen moves very well without the basketball and does a nice job getting rebounds for a 5-10 kid. He almost always averages a double-double," Matt Gorham said.
Also playing a vital role in Mendon's starting lineup is senior forward Carter Huston with norms of 11 points, 2.9 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.8 steals per game.
"I'm usually a forward but they put me everywhere. I can reach around other people and get a lot of boards and get to my spots quickly," said Hutson, who hopes to continue his golf or baseball career in college and major in sports entertainment and marketing.
"We have more leadership, and the guys are more focused in practice this season. This group really works together well. That's why whenever we come out of a huddle we say, 'As a team.’ My position challenges me. I'm average size, but yet I'm tall enough that I can jump and get more rebounds. I'm trying to be more of a leader and communicate better on the floor. We have better team chemistry this season too."
Hustle points, rebounding and getting tip passes are Huston's forte.
"Carter has developed into a pretty good third scoring threat for us. He takes the ball to the bucket and is a pretty good free-throw shooter," Matt Gorham said.
Other key players for Mendon are junior forward Tristan Wood (4.1 points, 5.3 rebounds) and 6-foot-5 junior center Dante Goto (7.6 points, 6.6 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 4.6 blocks).
"Dante is just a sponge. He soaks stuff in and has real good timing on rebounds and blocked shots. He's working on his mid-range shooting," Matt Gorham said. "Tristan is just an insane hard worker who does a lot of the dirty work for us by playing defense, getting loose balls, steals, rebounds and boxing out well. His hustle translates to points for us. You need those kind of guys."
Junior Kyron Truckey has been a sparkplug off the bench at a guard spot averaging 3.3 points, 2.3 rebounds and one steal per game.
"From last year to this season Ky might be our most improved player as far as not just his play, but his basketball mind and maturity. He works extremely hard, plays good defense, takes good care of the basketball and knows his role," Matt Gorham said.
Senior post player Jayden Haigh is a two-year varsity contributor making an impact.
"Jayden is a very physical player and a real good passer. He gets pumped up when he makes a great pass, and that just shows the unselfishness of this team," Matt Gorham said.
Mendon's loss to Hillsdale Academy also should make the Hornets stronger in the postseason.
"We watched film for over two hours straight after that loss. I know we are going to learn a great deal from the mistakes we made in that game,” Owen Gorham said. “We are hoping we see (Hillsdale Academy) again somewhere down the line after Districts.
“It’s great to see us building a legacy here that no has seen before. We just want to help put basketball on the map at Mendon.”
Scott Hassinger is a contributing sportswriter for Leader Publications and previously served as the sports editor for the Three Rivers Commercial-News from 1994-2022. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Berrien, Cass, St. Joseph and Branch counties.
PHOTOS (Top) At left, Owen Gorham shows off a banner earlier this season identifying him as a 1,000-point scorer. At right, Ryder Gorham holds up a banner commemorating him as Mendon's all-time leading scorer with 1,344 points following Monday's 84-40 win at Bellevue. (Middle) Second-year Mendon varsity boys basketball coach Matt Gorham addresses his team during a recent home game against Athens. (Below) Mendon junior guard Kyron Truckey (2) drives inside for a layup and scores against Athens. (Top photos provided by Matt Gorham. Game photos by Scott Hassinger.)
Father & Son Seidl Have Much to Discuss, Notes to Compare From Perfect Starts
By
Doug Donnelly
Special for MHSAA.com
February 7, 2023
Matt and Derek Seidl have a lot to talk about these days.
The father and son duo both have highly-ranked, undefeated basketball teams going into the first full week of February, something neither of them saw coming.
“We were hoping for a season like this, but you never think about winning this many in a row,” said Matt Seidl, the father and head coach of the 15-0 Olivet Eagles. “When our season ended last year, we knew our top seven players would all be returning.”
About 50 miles south of Olivet, in Jackson County, Derek Seidl has the Napoleon Pirates off to a 14-0 start. They are sitting on top of the Cascades Conference.
“We have a really talented group right now,” Derek said. “We were 19-3 last year and brought six guys back. Having that experience has been very valuable.”
Olivet is ranked No. 2 in MPR in Division 2 while Napoleon is No. 9 in Division 3. Both are top-10 teams in the latest Associated Press polls as well.
Matt Seidl, 60, graduated from Ypsilanti Lincoln High School in 1981 and went to Eastern Michigan University to become a sportswriter. He didn’t begin teaching until he was in his early 30s, but, by then, was already a veteran coach.
“It was getting difficult because I was always leaving my job to go coach,” he said. “I decided to go and get my teaching degree.”
He wound up in the classroom, which enabled him to dive deeper into coaching. He spent several years coaching at the middle school and high school levels, boys and girls, with stops at places like Pinckney, Ypsilanti, Manchester, Willow Run and Romulus. He was the JV boys basketball coach at Dexter when his son, Derek, made the team as a freshman.
By then, Derek already knew he would be on the bench one day as a coach.
“I played for my dad in youth travel stuff, and he was on staff for one year my freshmen year of high school,” Derek said. “He was a varsity coach all growing up. I was always at games. I loved talking to him about the game, the strategy of it, the Xs and Os. Even when I was younger, I thought about coaching someday. Growing up if you would have asked me what my dream job was, it would have been a teacher and coach.”
Derek, 27, graduated from Dexter in 2014. He played four years of college basketball at Lawrence Tech University. After getting his master’s degree and teaching degree, he got his first coaching job as an assistant coach at Chelsea, under Josh Tropea, who also had coached with Matt.
Derek’s first teaching and head coaching job came at Springport in 2019-20. This is his third year at Napoleon.
“It’s been a really good fit here,” Derek said. “Before I started looking into the job, I barely knew anything about Napoleon. It has worked out well.”
Matt is also the athletic director at Olivet. If he would have had his way, Derek would be coaching at Olivet.
“Derek did a really good job at Springport, and we had an opening and he interviewed and was recommended for the job, but before they offered it to him, Napoleon hired him,” Matt said. “He would have been the perfect choice to teach math and coach basketball.”
With Derek no longer in the running, Matt came out of coaching retirement and was named head coach.
“It was going to be a one-year deal, sort of a band-aid to get us to the next year,” he said.
Instead, Matt’s stayed on and put together quite a successful team. The Eagles have gone 47-6 since the start of the 2020-21 season. This year’s team has taken a big step.
Junior Bo Lincoln, a 5-foot-11 junior point guard, leads the team in scoring (17.1 points per game), assists (3.6 per game), steals (3.0 per game) and free throw percentage at 78 percent.
Drew Priddy, a 6-5 senior center, is averaging about eight points and seven rebounds a game, and junior guard Bryce Wine is averaging nine points a game and leads the team in 3-pointers.
“We had quite the youth movement a few years ago,” Matt said. “We go 8-9 deep now and have a lot of experience. Having those young guys play a couple years ago is paying off.
“We are a good team, but we’re not a 70-possessions-a-game type of team. We know who we are.”
Derek also knows plenty about his dad’s team.
“I definitely keep track of them,” he said. “We talk on the phone on a daily basis – 30 minutes about Napoleon and 30 minutes about Olivet. We bounce things off each other. We run a lot of the same stuff as far as systems. We’re very connected on things.”
Matt and Derek’s teams tried to have a good old-fashioned scrimmage, or exhibition, last year but – with Derek’s team ahead – Matt received two technicals and got kicked out of the game. It’s a fun story for both to tell now.
“That was wild,” Derek said. “It was a cool thing we had going. We were winning so I was enjoying it, but that put a whole different spin on the situation.”
Matt said they probably won’t do that again. Probably.
“My wife said no,” he said. “Derek and I have talked about it, but I don’t know that it would ever happen.”
Derek said one day he’d like to coach with his father.
“I’m very energetic and into it, just like he is,” Derek said. “There are some similarities. I played for him and watched him a lot. I try and pull some of the things he does, being prepared. We get along super well. I don’t know if I could trust him to not get technical fouls.”
He’s kidding, of course.
Napoleon has a core group of four players with a ton of experience.
Devonta Habern is a 5-11 junior who is on the varsity for the third year and runs the show at point guard. Six-foot-5 senior Trent Jester is one of the best big men in the conference. University of Michigan baseball commit Grant Bradley is a three-year varsity starter and outstanding athlete. Holden Vanpoppel is an all-state track athlete who has turned into a pretty good basketball player.
“Grant is super steady and having a great year,” Derek said. “He looks like he’s been in the weight room since he was 5 years old. He can guard anybody. Vanpoppel is an unbelievable run and jump athlete. All four of these guys are averaging in double figures. They are really good athletes who have invested in the program and put the time in.”
“We’ve got a very talented group,” Derek said. “They are a little looser than I am. I tend to be very calculated, kind of analytical and serious. They like to goof around a little bit. They keep me even-keeled. They know when to get serious. It’s good for me to have a group like that.”
Derek said his squad wants to exceed expectations this year.
“We talk about that after every game – don’t be satisfied just because we are undefeated,” Derek said. “There is plenty more to accomplish. Last year we went 18-2 in the regular season and 19-3 overall, but we didn’t win a league or a District. Our guys have bought into that mindset. That’s helped us get to where we are.”
Matt is keeping a close eye on not only his team, but Derek’s as well.
“I probably get more stressed watching his games,” he said. “I’m really proud of what he has been able to do.”
Doug Donnelly has served as a sports and news reporter and city editor over 25 years, writing for the Daily Chief-Union in Upper Sandusky, Ohio from 1992-1995, the Monroe Evening News from 1995-2012 and the Adrian Daily Telegram since 2013. He's also written a book on high school basketball in Monroe County and compiles record books for various schools in southeast Michigan. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Father Matt, left, and son Derek Seidl are leading undefeated boys basketball teams this season at Olivet and Napoleon, respectively. (Middle) Senior Brayden Wine makes a move toward the basket for the Eagles. (Below) Derek Seidl instructs his players. (Olivet photos courtesy of Olivet High School; Napoleon photos by Jeff Steers/JTV.)