Breslin Bound: Girls District Preview
March 2, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The first games of the MHSAA Girls Basketball Tournament tip off Monday evening, a restart for every team after three months of grinding toward these final three weeks of the season.
To kick off Districts, this week's Breslin Bound report looks at five teams in each class that have made some of the biggest waves throughout this winter.
Click to “track the tournament,” with results as we receive them and interactive brackets.
CLASS A
Bloomfield Hills Marian (19-1) – The reigning Class A champion remains undefeated against Michigan competition; its lone loss was Jan. 17 to Chicago Whitney Young, which finished its season 27-2. The Mustangs handed Detroit Martin Luther King its only loss, 50-49 in Thursday’s Operation Friendship game, and also own wins over Farmington Hills Mercy, Flint Powers Catholic, Benton Harbor and Class C contender Ypsilanti Arbor Prep.
Detroit Martin Luther King (19-1) – As noted above, King didn’t fall this season until Thursday against Marian, and then by only one point – giving the Crusaders only two regular-season losses total over the last three winters. King earned a 25-point win during holiday break over Port Huron Northern, now 17-3, and continued to build strength through a perfect Detroit Public School League run.
Flushing (20-0) – The Raiders opened strong with wins over eventual league champions Flint Powers Catholic and Midland Dow and kept on cruising to improve significantly on last season’s 13-9 finish. Flushing added another big victory last week – 50-48 in overtime over Saginaw Heritage, which is 17-3 – and should enjoy that momentum heading into the tournament.
Marquette (20-0) – The Redettes built on a great 19-3 finish a year ago to end up even better this regular season. In addition to again winning the Great Northern Upper Peninsula Conference title, Marquette shined against strong competition from downstate, beating Brighton (16-4) and Traverse City West (17-3) during the first month.
Southfield Lathrup (19-1) – Only a two-point loss to Toledo Rogers (Ohio) on Dec. 13 has kept the Chargers from a perfect record. Lathrup sandwiched that loss with impressive wins over the PSL’s Detroit Cass Tech and Renaissance during the first two weeks and have since added impressive victories over Arbor Prep (17-3), Southfield (18-2) and Grosse Pointe South (16-4).
CLASS B
Midland Bullock Creek (20-0) – The Lancers have added to their two straight MHSAA Semifinals runs with a perfect regular season keyed by a trio of 1,000-point scoring seniors in Halee Nieman, Ellie Juengel and Hannah Heldt (read more from the Midland Daily News). Bullock Creek dominated a Tri-Valley Conference Central with six teams that have at least 10 wins, plus won its crossovers against Frankenmuth and Ithaca – both are 18-2.
Grand Rapids Catholic Central (18-2) – The Cougars earned a share of the Ottawa-Kent Conference title on Feb. 20 with a 22-point win over Wayland that avenged an earlier double-overtime loss to their league rival. The only other loss was to Arbor Prep – which came at the end of a two-week run that featured impressive wins over Sparta (18-2) and Class A Grand Rapids Christian (16-4) by 37 points.
Plainwell (20-0) – The Trojans’ perfect run has included three wins over Class A opponents and a Wolverine Conference East championship after they tied for second in the league last season. Plainwell has won six straight by double digits including over Paw Paw and Otsego – the two teams that each beat the Trojans twice during last season’s 18-4 finish.
Spring Lake (20-0) – The Lakers jumped from 13-8 last season to win the Lakes 8 Activities Conference title outright and 17 games by double figures. Spring Lake was 7-15 only two seasons ago, but this winter won 10 games against teams that sit .500 or better.
Wayland (19-1) – The Wildcats split the O-K Gold with Grand Rapids Catholic Central (see above). But Wayland bounced back with two big wins last week and still should carry some confidence from an early slate of victories over Class A Grand Rapids Christian (16-4), Caledonia (14-6) and Wyoming (16-4) and then a one-point win over GRCC on Jan. 23.
CLASS C
Blissfield (19-1): The Royals closed the regular season with a 47-41 win last week over Tri-County Conference runner-up Britton Deerfield, also tonight’s District opponent. Blissfield split the Lenawee County Activities Association championship with Class B Brooklyn Columbia Central, which also gave Blissfield its only loss this season. It may been two months ago, but the Royals also picked up a nice win over Class D contender St. Ignace, 46-33.
Gobles (20-0) – The Tigers, MHSAA semifinalists last season – cruised through their second straight perfect regular season. Gobles won the Southwestern Athletic Conference South title, then beat North champion Decatur 51-35 in their crossover game. Gobles also added a nice one-point victory last week over Class B Otsego, runner-up in the Wolverine Conference East.
Laingsburg (20-0) – The Wolfpack have improved from 13 to 15 to 20 wins over the last three seasons, winning a Central Michigan Athletic Conference with another strong Class C contender in Pewamo-Westphalia (17-3) and a Class D hopeful in Portland St. Patrick (14-6). Laingsburg also added a nice pair of wins over Class B Durand (13-7) in the season opener and Perry (15-5) near the midpoint.
Niles Brandywine (19-1) – The Bobcats' only loss this season was to 17-win Class A Kalamazoo Central, and that came in double overtime. Brandywine won seven games over teams with at least 13 wins this winter and went 7-1 against Class A and Class B opponents.
Ypsilanti Arbor Prep (17-3) – Arbor Prep’s list of wins this winter provide plenty of confidence the team will eclipse last season’s Quarterfinal run: 59-55 over Grand Rapids Catholic Central, 52-39 over Flint Powers Catholic, 54-39 over Detroit Country Day, to name a few. The losses were to Class A Southfield Lathrup, Marian (both mentioned above) and Ann Arbor Huron (18-2).
CLASS D
Bellaire (19-1) – The Eagles won the Ski Valley Conference despite splitting with rival Johannesburg-Lewiston, a Class C team that's 18-2. One win this week will give Bellaire more than 20 for the second straight season, with 10 this winter coming against teams above .500.
Frankfort (18-1) – An MHSAA quarterfinalist a year ago, Frankfort has continued its stellar play with five wins over Class B teams and four over Class C this winter – the only loss was to Class B Portland during holiday break. The Panthers finished perfect in the Northwest Conference, sweeping runner-up Maple City Glen Lake, a Class C team that sits 14-6.
Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart (16-4) – The Irish, last season’s Class D champion, should be more than prepared for another run featuring some of last season’s heroes – center Averi Gamble and guard Riley Terwilliger among them – and after playing only three Class D opponents during the regular season. The losses were to Class C Carson City-Crystal (18-2) twice, Morley Stanwood (16-4) and Saginaw Nouvel (14-6) – and two Class D wins were over Gaylord St. Mary (16-4) and Big Rapids Crossroads Academy (19-1).
Pittsford (20-0) – The Wildcats finished their second straight perfect regular season as the only undefeated team in Class D. In addition to winning the Southern Central Athletic Association East title for the second straight season, Pittsford added wins against solid Class C teams Sand Creek (14-6), Manchester (17-3) and Britton Deerfield (16-4) and held opponents to fewer than 20 points in 10 victories.
St. Ignace (15-5) – The Saints are another team with a few more losses but expectations of being around at the end of the Class D tournament after winning Class D in 2013 and finishing runner-up in Class C last winter. They opened with a loss to Class A Brighton and all of their losses were to larger schools with between 12-16 wins this winter. All but four of St. Ignace’s games were against teams that finished with at least 11 wins.
PHOTO: Class A contenders Bloomfield Hills Marian and Detroit Martin Luther King met last week in a regular-season finale; Marian prevailed 50-49. (Photo courtesy of the Detroit Public School League.)
Goodrich Finishes Winter Season with Perfection, Completing Undefeated Title Run
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
March 21, 2026
EAST LANSING – Kayla Hairston approached the Division 2 bracket poster with two hands on the Goodrich nameplate, getting it positioned on the final line in the only way she and her teammates knew how to do things – perfectly.
The Martians defeated Tecumseh 55-44 on Saturday in the night’s concluding Girls Basketball Final at the Breslin Center, finishing off a 29-0 season.
“Playing Tecumseh, the team that knocked us out last year, and beating them for the state championship felt amazing,” Hairston said. “We came to Breslin and we emphasized that we don’t want to be at Breslin, we want to be here for a state championship, and that mindset is what got us here.”
It was the third title for the Goodrich girls team, and first since the program won back-to-back Class B titles in 2012 and 2013. The Martians’ victory also prevented Tecumseh from repeating as the Division 2 champ.
“It’s definitely special,” Goodrich senior Tanner Schramm said. “Coming out and getting this win today against Tecumseh is big, because we lost to them last year thinking we could win it all last year. Coming out and winning today feels even better.”
Hairston finished with 21 points in her final game at Goodrich, while Baylor Lauinger had 14 and Schramm had eight. Lauinger added five rebounds and four steals, both team highs.
Avery Zajac led Tecumseh with 19 points, while Addi Zajac had 10 points and eight rebounds.
Everything was difficult for Tecumseh, however, as it was held to its third-lowest scoring output of the season.
“I thought our kids were just awesome today,” Goodrich coach Jason Gray said. “Tecumseh’s a very good team, and we thought there were certain things that they had advantages on, and certain things that we had advantages on, and we really kind of leaned on our advantages tonight. All year, our defensive pressure has been a key. We don’t always trap and run all over the floor like that, but we do press to the ball. Tonight was probably one of the best (games) we played all year long.”
Goodrich’s unrelenting defense had Tecumseh sped up throughout the first half, as the returning champ had as many turnovers as points through 16 minutes and trailed 29-14 at the break.
Three Martians – Kat Federick, Baylor Lauinger and Kaylee Eickhoff – had three steals apiece by halftime, and the team had scored 22 points off turnovers.
All of that success came despite star senior Schramm being saddled with foul trouble and spending a majority of the half on the bench.
“We really couldn’t run anything,” Tecumseh coach Kristy Zajac said. “We were really trying to pound it into the post to Addi, and our guards were getting pressured so much, and we kept turning the ball over. You can’t turn the ball over in big games like this. That kind of made our offense struggle all together.”
Tecumseh (26-3) settled down in the second half, but the hole was too deep. Even when it did get the game back to a 10-point deficit in the final seconds of the third, Schramm hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to extend the lead and wipe away any Tecumseh momentum heading into the fourth.
“That was tough,” Kristy Zajac said. “We were working our way back little by little, then they hit that 3, and that was the dagger. This crew never gives up. I told them in the timeout that we were down to Chelsea by 11 with a minute to go and we came back and won that game – they fight and they fight, and they battle and battle until the last buzzer sounds, and I thought they did that tonight. They just made more shots than we did and played a little bit better.”
Schramm’s shot came off a set play for the Martians, even though Gray didn’t have to call a timeout or even signal to Hairston and Schramm to run it.
“Kayla knew exactly where she was going to go: She was either going to get a layup or she was kicking it to Tanner,” Gray said. “Tanner knew that ball was coming, and Tanner knew that shot was coming. It really gives the kids a lot of confidence when they know they’re supposed to be taking the shot and they’re not questioning it. That 3 was huge, but it was by design. Our kids were ready for that moment.”
From there, Hairston and the Martians left no doubt. The senior scored eight points over the quarter’s first 1½ minutes as Goodrich built a 19-point lead and put the game away.
“It feels great, but I give it all to my teammates,” Hairston said. “I’ve been struggling a little bit with my 3-point shot, so them just having my back and telling me that’s my shot and not to give up on myself, even though I’ve been missing, it just means a lot. For them to set me up and get me those open shots, it means a lot.”
PHOTOS (Top) Goodrich’s Kayla Hairston (12) drives to the basket as Tecumseh’s Addi Zajac (40) goes for a block during Saturday’s Division 2 Final at Breslin Center. (Middle) Goodrich’s Kaylee Eickhoff (10) makes a move on the baseline with Avery Zajac defending. (Photos by Keionna Banks and Lilanie Karunanayake/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)