Ishpeming Standouts Close Magnificent Careers, Wild Week by Leading Team to 2nd Title
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
March 21, 2026
EAST LANSING – Mya Hemmer and Jenessa Eagle put on one final show in an Ishpeming uniform Saturday.
The Hematites seniors were dominant in leading their team to a 48-28 victory against Portland St. Patrick in the Division 4 Girls Basketball Final at the Breslin Center, winning their second title in three years.
“This is my last organized basketball game, which is really sad for me – this is my first sport, my first love,” said Hemmer, who will play volleyball at Baylor. “I just changed to volleyball freshman year, so it’s kind of a shock that I’m going to be done. It’s just such a great opportunity to be able to play, and that was just amazing. Who could have asked for a better end to their season? That’s the goal, right?”
Hemmer had 18 points, 17 rebounds, nine blocks and six steals, while Eagle had 19 points and 11 rebounds. It was a repeat of 2024, when Ishpeming won its only other championship with the then-sophomores leading the team in points and rebounds.
“I really wasn’t nervous this time around,” said Eagle, who will continue her career at Michigan Tech. “I remember the first time we came here, I was shaking, sweating, I was on the verge of tears the first time two years ago. Coming back here, it helped with our maturity, not being nervous and then helping other teammates who haven’t played here to be less nervous.”
This year’s road to the Final was a tough one, and not necessarily on the court. The Hematites (25-3) won all but one of their postseason games by double digits, with the Semifinal against Morenci the lone exception.
Much of the struggle was simply getting to East Lansing, as the Upper Peninsula was buried in several feet of snow earlier in the week, forcing Ishpeming to play its Quarterfinal on Wednesday and Semifinal on Thursday.
“We had a grueling stretch here,” Ishpeming coach Ryan Reichel said. “Leave on a Wednesday, four days in a hotel, snowstorms, lack of practice, some of the things you take for granted in the regular season. Us having two games basically starting within a 24-hour period at this high of a level is not easy, and they showed that UP grit, that Hematite grit in (the Semifinal). Then, this morning you got to see them do it with fresh legs and energy.”
Their classmates also got to see it, something they weren’t able to do Thursday because of the weather. Having them in attendance Saturday provided another boost for the Hematites.
“It was amazing. I love our fans,” Eagle said. “They’re amazing and they showed out today, leaving at 12:30 in the morning, that’s ridiculous. I think that proves how diehard the UP is.”
A 15-0 second quarter blew the game open for the Hematites, giving them a 29-13 lead at the half.
Ishpeming forced five turnovers and blocked four shots, and St. Patrick was 0-for-11 from the field in the quarter.
Hemmer had three of those blocks, as her mere presence in the paint was clearly affecting the Shamrocks. She had a double-double – 14 points, 10 rebounds – by halftime, along with five blocks and three steals.
“It’s hard, because you can see her coming and you don’t think she is that tall, but she is really tall and blocks you,” St. Patrick junior guard Gracelyn Rockey said. “It makes it harder, because we get a lot of rebounds and putbacks, so it was hard for us not to get those.”
St. Patrick went 10 minutes of game time without scoring, as Ishpeming’s run reached 20-0. When Rockey finished off a three-point play with 18 seconds to play in the first quarter, the score was 14-13. By the time Lily Sandborn hit a 3-pointer just under two minutes into the third quarter, it was Ishpeming 34-16.
“We struggled to make shots, and I think we tried to challenge them maybe a little more than we should have underneath the basket,” St. Patrick coach Michelle Smith said. “When we don’t make shots, it’s difficult for us to settle into our zone defense, which is what we hang our hats on. In the second quarter, they got a lot of long outlets which made it difficult for us to settle in defensively and created a number of open looks for them.”
Rockey had 10 points and six rebounds to lead the way for the Shamrocks (23-6), who were making their 13th Finals appearance, but first since 2006.
“It’s been a great journey,” said senior Mattie Honsowitz, who was lost to injury early in the season. “I think it’s 20 years since the last time we made it this far, and we just worked as a team this entire year – that was our goal. We rebound, we communicate, and that’s what led us here. We’re really proud of that.”
PHOTOS (Top) Ishpeming’s Jenessa Eagle (3) drives toward the lane while a teammate cuts to the basket during their Division 4 Final win over Portland St. Patrick at Breslin Center. (Middle) Mya Hemmer (14) and Brittanie Piotrowski (5) surround St. Patrick’s Gracelyn Rockey as she drives. (Photos by Keionna Banks and Lilanie Karunanayake/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)
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.)