Holland Sophomore Honored for Courage
April 15, 2020
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
What LayRay Paw has experienced and overcome during her still-young life is likely unimaginable for most she encounters on the basketball court.
The Holland High sophomore and her siblings were forced to navigate a refugee camp in Thailand and the deaths of their parents – who had fled Myanmar before she was born. They then came to the United States and began a new life with a new language, new adoptive family and new customs.
And she has excelled.
Paw was recognized today as one of two winners of the 2020 Jersey Mike’s Naismith High School Basketball Courage Award.
The award recognizes a players who have “consistently gone above and beyond throughout the basketball season and (have) demonstrated courage in their approach to their team, their school, the game and their community.”
Following is an except from Paw’s nomination for the award, as told by adoptive parents Marsha and Bob Gustavson. Visit the Naismith Courage Award website for more including video with Paw, her parents and her Holland basketball and soccer coaches.
LayRay Paw was born in a refugee camp in Thailand called Mae La Oon. This particular refugee camp was for the people who were forced to flee from their home country of Myanmar due to war. They had to leave everything behind. When LayRay Paw was only a year old, her father was beaten to death after he attempted to leave the refugee camp in search of food and supplies for his wife and six children. Unfortunately, when LayRay was three years old, her mother became very ill and passed away. There are very minimal medical services for people living in refugee camps. After LayRay's mother passed away, she and her four older siblings were raised by her oldest sister, who was fourteen at the time. They survived on rationed rice, provided by the Thai government as well as anything else they could gather to eat from the river and forests. Because food was scarce, medical care almost non-existent, and fearing for the safety of her family, LayRay's oldest sister decided to sign up with the United Nations program to seek asylum in a different country.
In 2010, when LayRay was six years old, she and her five siblings were resettled in the United States and were all adopted by us. It was a huge culture shock for LayRay and her siblings upon arriving in the US. They did not speak or understand any English, had never seen or used running water, electricity, or toilets. They also had to learn to eat all new food, although rice continues to be the staple for each meal. Since being in the USA for ten years, LayRay now eats most American food, with the exception of cheese. Not only has LayRay completely caught up to her peers in school, but she excels in the classroom and she participates in many different extracurricular activities. Despite all that she has been through in her short life, she has demonstrated such resilience and is now a teenager who loves life, gives 100% to whatever she is working on and is always encouraging and helpful to others.
On top of basketball LayRay also plays soccer. During basketball season she works with our community to help run our elementary school camps. Girls are drawn to her. She is an amazing positive influence.
Photos courtesy of the Gustavson family and Holland athletic department.
Tecumseh Finds 2nd-Half Stride Again to Reach 1st Final in 50 Years
By
Dean Holzwarth
Special for MHSAA.com
March 21, 2025
EAST LANSING – Tecumseh coach Kristy Zajac wasn’t too worried when her team got off to a sluggish start during the first half of Friday’s Division 2 Semifinal.
The second half has proved to be when her team is at its best.
Tecumseh overcame a double-digit deficit and rallied to defeat Frankenmuth 52-43 at the Breslin Center, earning the program’s first championship game appearance in 50 years.
“Every game all year we start slow, but finish strong, and we were able to pull it out tonight,” Zajac said. “I’m super proud of these girls because they fought back, and this is a great win for our program.”
Tecumseh will play for the Division 2 championship at 6:15 p.m. Saturday, seeking its first Finals title since 1974 and after also finishing Class B runner-up in 1975.
Tecumseh, which outscored Frankenmuth 34-20 during the second half Friday, improved to 26-1. It's only loss was to Division 1 finalist Rockford.
The win was bittersweet, though, after junior Maddy VanBlack suffered an apparent leg injury during the final minute.
“Super special for our girls, but that last play of the game is just so hard,” Zajac said. “She’s worked so hard to get back to us after missing almost two years of seasons, and that’s why these girls are all in tears. I feel so terrible for her, and we’re hoping she’s OK.”
Frankenmuth led 30-20 midway through the third quarter after a 3-pointer from Clare Conzelmann. However, Tecumseh slowly chipped away at the deficit and eventually tied it at 32-32 with a 10-2 run to end the third quarter.
Miss Basketball Award finalist Alli Zajac struggled with foul trouble, but her teammates picked her up and ignited the second-half blitz.
“It’s not a great thing that I was in foul trouble, but I’m kind of glad that I was just so I can see how well they work together when I'm not in there with them,” Alli Zajac said. “It was amazing to see other girls step up.”
One was senior Ashlyn Moorhead, who drained 4-of-6 3-point attempts and finished with 14 points.
“I loved seeing her knock down those 3s and hit those pull-up jumpers,” Kristy Zajac said. “She stepped into beast mode in the second half. She started slow, but I knew she had it in her and stepped up that confidence.”
Said Moorhead: “I knew that my teammates and coaches had confidence in me. I just went up and let it fly.”
Sophomore Addi Zajac also fueled the comeback with 16 points and 14 rebounds.
“She’s one of the best rebounders I’ve ever seen, and we knew that other people had to step up and they did,” Kristy Zajac said. “That’s what is great about this team. There’s not one person you can shut down and then try to beat us. You have to beat all of us.”
An 11-0 run in the fourth quarter sealed the win.
“These girls deserve this,” Kristy Zajac said. “They’ve worked hard for this, and they’ve put in the time.”
The Eagles were in search of a return trip to the Final after finishing runner-up in 2023, but suffered through a five-minute scoring drought during the final quarter and shot a dismal 8-of-27 during the second half.
“One day short of what our goal was,” Frankenmuth coach Joe Jacobs said. “The first half went in our favor, but then they made shots in the second half and the game got away from us. But it doesn’t take away from what these girls accomplished, and we have three seniors that have been here two times, so it was a special opportunity for them.”
Conzelmann led the Eagles with 15 points and three blocked shots. Macy Donovan and Isabelle Bernthal finished with nine and eight points, respectively.
PHOTOS: Tecumseh’s Makayla Schlorf (3) makes her move toward the basket with Frankenmuth’s Grace Brenner guarding her Friday at Breslin Center. (Middle) Chloe Bullinger (10) keeps the ball inbounds, sending it over Brenner’s outstretched arms. (Photos by Keionna Banks/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)