'SLAM THE DOOR!' Glen Lake wins D4 state championship

Mar. 19—EAST LANSING — You'd think snow would have been good luck for the Upper Peninsula team.

Instead, a championship day snowstorm just set the appropriate scene for Glen Lake's 60-43 victory in Saturday's Division 4 girls basketball state championship game.

The last time the Lakers won a state title — back in 1978 — a snowstorm hit Michigan.

So when Glen Lake head coach Jason Bradford's wife called him early Saturday morning, saying she might be later than expected to the game at Breslin Student Event Center at Michigan State University because of snow, he was relieved in a way.

"It's been 45 years," Bradford said. "And 45 years ago, there was a snowstorm."

The Lakers (26-2) went from starting the season as the unanimous No. 1-ranked team in Division 4 to ending it on top, following up last season's semifinals loss with more determination to not end that way again.

"It still hasn't really hit me that we just won the state championship," Glen Lake senior Olivia Mikowski said. "Last year, it was heartbreaking to lose in that game. We wanted that really bad. So to be able to come back and do it this year is just so cool. It's amazing."

It's the first Glen Lake team state championship since the 2004 Class B-C-D boys skiing crown and first girls team state title since skiing won in 1998 and 1999. The 1994 football team won the Class DD championship.

It's the first girls basketball state title for a northwest Lower Michigan team since Frankfort went back-to-back in 2005 and 2006. Glen Lake's student section chanted "LP Power" as the Lakers started to mount their comeback in the second quarter, a take on Upper Peninsula schools' "UP Power" postseason rally cry.

The Lakers trailed by as many as 11 points in the first half, trimming the deficit to five by halftime. Like the rest of Glen Lake's playoff run, the second half belonged to the Lakers.

"I was worried, but I know we're a second-half team," Mikowski said. "We've come back and done it the last three games. If we're down or it's a close game, we come back and just slam the door on them. That's been our motto. Just slam the door that second half."

Glen Lake's fan section chanted "Slam the door!" in the fourth quarter as the lead swelled into double digits. Not the kids, the adults.

Glen Lake outscored Baraga 17-5 in the third quarter and 21-11 in the fourth.

"Our little talk in the locker room, it's probably like deja vu," Bradford said. "It's probably like the last three games. 'Confidence. Let's close the door.' The girls came out focused."

No. 4-ranked Baraga (23-6) was led by senior Corina Jahfetson's 20 points, 14 of which came in the first half as she connected on 4-of-6 from three-point range. Glen Lake switched up its defense in the second half, putting 5-foot-8 sophomore Jessie Pugh on the 5-5 guard.

"They were hitting their shots the whole first half, and we know that they're going to have their runs and their first half was good," said Lakers senior point guard Ruby Hogan, who was one rebound shy of a triple-double in the semifinals. "They were making all their shots. We knew we had to come out in the second half like we have the past few games and just take it to them. ... Our motto for the postseason has been 'slam the door' and we definitely have been a second-half team this postseason, and today we proved that again."

It's the 10th girls basketball state championship since 1973 for a northwest Lower Michigan team, joining Frankfort (2005, 2006), McBain (1984), Manistee (1982), Leland (1980-82), Glen Lake (1978) and Lake City (1976).

"Donna King is one of our assistant coaches, and she made history back in 1978," Lakers assistant coach Liz Moeggenberg said. "To be part of history, all these girls, their names are going to be on the board in the gym, and that's phenomenal. I'm so super proud of them. They've come so far, not just as individuals, but as a complete team. It's really cool to see that development, to be a part of it. It's been a heck of a ride."

Moeggenberg won a championship in the same arena where she played college basketball from 2002-06.

"What better place than the Breslin Center, right?" Moeggenberg said. "Bringing home that state championship, it's really surreal. It's not about me, though. It's about these girls and what they've put into the program, and being coachable. Always trusting in Coach Bradford and myself. We've been hard on them. They really trust the process, and it's just been really cool to see them all develop."

The Lakers trailed 19-10 after one quarter, shooting only 5-for-16. Glen Lake pulled within four on a Maddie Bradford 3-pointer with 3:49 left and went into halftime down five, 27-22.

"The first half was very chaotic," Glen Lake senior guard Gemma Lerchen said. "Everybody was getting very frustrated. (Jahfetson) was really on with her three-point shots. But we came out the second half and we were composed, we were focused, we knew what we needed to do. And we executed."

Lerchen found Bradford on a fast break for a 32-31 lead — the Lakers' first since three minutes into the game — with 3:56 left in the third quarter, and Glen Lake pulled away from there. Hogan euro-stepped through the Vikings' defense for a layup and a 48-34 lead. The Lakers led by as much as 18 in the fourth quarter.

Maddie Bradford kept out of foul trouble and responded with a 28-point performance that put her just two shy of getting into the championship game record books for most points in a title game.

"She's an exceptional ballplayer," Baraga second-year head coach Tyler Larson said of the 6-foot Lake Superior State commit. "They utilize her knowledge and size to their advantage, and we just didn't have an answer for her. Give that young woman credit for playing an outstanding game."

Baraga's hot shooting from the first half lost steam in the second, and Glen Lake's height kept generating opportunities.

"They were trying to find some mismatch opportunities to get the ball down low a little bit more," Larson said. "And their size was becoming a problem."

Hogan rebounded from a 1-for-5 shooting performance in the first half to score 19, along with seven rebounds and five assists. Bradford grabbed eight boards and blocked two shots.

Lerchen added six assists, four rebounds, two steals and two points, with Eleanor Valkner scoring five points and grabbing a game-high 11 rebounds, five of those on the offensive end. Pugh contributed four rebounds, two steals, two assists and four points in addition to holding Jahfetson to six second-half points. Mikowski scored a bucket late in the first quarter that cut Baraga's lead to seven.