Goodrich Wins Matchup of Undefeated Contenders to Earn Chance to Finish Unbeaten
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
March 20, 2026
EAST LANSING – Goodrich hopes to become the next Division 2 champion Saturday at Breslin Center.
But in the meantime, the Martians can lay claim to being the state’s last unbeaten team heading into the final day of the season.
In a matchup of 27-0 teams, Goodrich earned the right to play for its first championship since winning the second of back-to-back crowns in 2013, claiming a 47-41 win over Grand Rapids South Christian in a Friday Semifinal.
Goodrich (28-0) will try to dethrone 2025 champion Tecumseh, which eliminated Goodrich in last year’s tournament, at 6:45 p.m. Saturday.
The Martians made it to Breslin Center undefeated largely because of its stout defense all season, and that was on display against South Christian.
“We were able to do what we’re looking to do every game,” Goodrich head coach Jason Gray said. “And our defense really showed up tonight. They hit a couple of big 3s late against us, but in general, that’s about as good of a job as you can do defending that team.”
The Martians limited South Christian to 16 of 42 shooting from the field, but seven of those field goals came during the first quarter.
Over the last three, Goodrich held the Sailors to 9 of 29 shooting. For the game, South Christian was 3 of 18 from 3-point range.
“Pressure defense pushed us out a little bit,” Sailors head coach Erika Brown said. “We couldn’t get into our normal dribble-drive where we could turn the corner and get into the paint tonight. We weren’t seeing the post as well as we probably could have.”
Goodrich dominated the second quarter and built a big lead during the fourth before holding off a late South Christian comeback.
Leading 36-28 going into the fourth quarter, Goodrich stretched the margin to 14 at 43-29 with 4:59 remaining on a 3-pointer by senior Kayla Hairston.
The Sailors had an answer though, reeling off nine straight points to cut its deficit to 43-37 with 3:13 remaining. The last six points of that run came courtesy of senior Lizzie Woithuis, who drained back-to-back 3-pointers.
“We just knew what we had to do,” Hairston said. “They went on a little run, but that didn’t change our mindset. They didn’t make us rattled. They didn’t stress us out. We just had to play our style no matter what.”
Hairston delivered maybe the biggest rebound of the game after missing two free throws with 58.3 seconds left and Goodrich up 44-39.
After the second miss, she tracked down the rebound near the baseline and got the ball out to junior teammate Baylor Lauinger, who was fouled and hit two free throws with 48.4 seconds remaining to make the lead seven.
Goodrich held firm defensively and hit one more free throw to hold off South Christian.
Hairston scored 17 points, and Lauinger added 11 points for Goodrich.
Goodrich held a 28-19 lead at halftime after a 10-2 run. It was a different story to start the third quarter, as South Christian went on a 7-0 run to cut its deficit to 31-28.
But the Martians scored the last five points of the third quarter and had too much of a cushion for South Christian to overcome.
Sophia Prins, a four-year varsity standout, scored 13 points to lead the Sailors and finish off a tremendous high school career.
“Overall, we can’t let this one game define us,” Prins said. “We have to look back at how good we performed every single game up to this point of the whole season.”
PHOTOS (Top) Goodrich’s Kayla Hairston splits a pair of South Christian defenders driving to the hoop Friday. (Middle) The Martians’ Sydney Place (11) and Sailors’ Sophia Prins watch Place’s shot fall as the official signals a 3-pointer. (Photos by Keionna Banks and John Castine/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)
Glen Lake 'Slams the Door' on 1st Finals Championship Since 1978
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
March 18, 2023
EAST LANSING – The motto this postseason for the Maple City Glen Lake girls basketball team was “Slam the door.”
But at halftime of Saturday’s MHSAA Division 4 Final against Baraga, the Lakers still had to find their own way through it.
Thanks to suffocating second-half defense and the inside-outside combination of seniors Ruby Hogan and Maddie Bradford, Glen Lake ran through and slammed the door on a 60-43 win, claiming its first Finals title since 1978.
“We knew we had to come out in the second half like we had in the past few games and just take it to them and be focused,” Hogan said. “Work on our offense, work on our defense and don’t foul them. Then things would come our way. Our motto for the postseason has been ‘Slam the door’ and we definitely have been a second-half team this postseason. Today we proved that again.”
Hogan had 19 points, seven rebounds and five assists for the Lakers, who were making their first Finals appearance since 1979.
“It’s amazing,” said Glen Lake senior guard Gemma Lerchen, who had six assists. “It’s unbelievable to finally be able to get it done. It’s been forever that we’ve worked for this. Through the summer, through the whole year. It just feels so good to get it done.”
Glen Lake coach Jason Bradford, who is in his 15th season at the helm, was well aware of the program’s history and the Finals drought.
His teams have had plenty of success, winning more than 280 games and stepping up their postseason success in recent years, winning Regional titles in five of the past seven seasons.
And when he woke up to hear those traveling from Glen Lake would have to brave a snowstorm to get to the Breslin Center, he became even more confident this could be the year.
“Like I said on Thursday, it seems like the stars were all lining up,” he said. “It’s been 45 years, and 45 years ago, there was a snowstorm (on the day of the Final). My wife called just after 6 (a.m.) and said they were a bit behind with the snowstorm. I looked out the window and I was like, ‘That’s a good sign.’ But it’s unbelievable. We knew we were capable of doing it.”
Maddie Bradford, Jason’s daughter, led all scorers with 28 points. She also had eight rebounds. Eleanor Valkner added 11 rebounds.
Sixteen of those points, and 17 of Hogan’s, came in the second half as the Lakers turned the tide in a game during which they trailed by five at halftime.
“I just focused on, if I’m not open and not able to hit those shots, I trust my team,” Hogan said. “That’s what I need to do and that’s what all of us need to do, is trust each other. If I’m not open and I’m not hitting my shots, then Maddie can and Jessie (Pugh) can and Olivia (Mikowski) can. I know that I’ll have my time when I’m needing to make shots. But in the first half, it just wasn’t my time. It was my time to play defense and my time to pass the ball.”
The first half was the time for Baraga star guard Corina Jahfetson to hit shots, as she scored 14 of her 20 points in the opening 16 minutes, including four 3-pointers. Glen Lake held her to six points and 2 of 15 shooting, including 1 of 12 from 3, in the second half.
“It was not really the attention factor, I was just not feeling it in that second half,” Jahfetson said. “I kept trying to push it through and do what I had to do.”
As a team, Baraga struggled from the field in the second half as Glen Lake’s defense improved. The Vikings (23-6) were 4 of 22 from the field in the second half, and went scoreless for more than 5 minutes at one point in the third quarter.
“We came out better than we usually do in the first half,” Baraga coach Tyler Larson said. “We’re used to playing from behind in a lot of games. I thought we had a great start, things were falling in our favor. We came out in the second half, they made some good adjustments, credit to them. Some of the size factor played in there. I think we needed to do a better job boxing out, and transition points that we didn’t want to let up. That’s a good ballclub right there that we just played, and our girls fought to the end. Just really proud of what they’ve done this game and all season long.”
Makenna Hendrickson had 14 points for Baraga, while Jahfetson added seven rebounds to her 20 points in Baraga’s first Finals appearance.
“It means so much to be here sitting with these girls and coach Ty,” Jahfetson said. “I’m happy that we’re state runner-up. It would have been amazing to be No. 1, but not everything works out that way.”
PHOTOS (Top) Maple City Glen Lake celebrates its Division 4 championship Saturday as coach Jason Bradford presents the trophy to his team. (Middle) The Lakers’ Maddie Bradford (10) works to get up a shot while defended by Jaycee Larson. (Below) Ruby Hogan (20) gets to the basket.