EAST LANSING — Saturday, March 21, will be a bittersweet day at the Breslin Center.
Four champions will be crowned in the Michigan high school girls basketball state championships. But, that day will be the last of the high school basketball season until December.
The Division 4 championship tips off at 10 a.m. between Ishpeming and Portland St. Patrick. Ishpeming came back to edge out Morenci in a defensive battle, while St. Patrick completely stifled Onekama.
The Division 1 championship is at noon. Muskegon is making its first appearance in the title game after taking care of Utica Eisenhower in a stop-and-start game dominated by the referee’s whistle. Detroit Renaissance narrowly beat DeWitt in a low-scoring defensive battle to try to earn its second state title.
The Division 3 championship is at 4 p.m. between Pewamo-Westphalia and Jackson Lumen Christi. P-W is trying to sweep the boys and girls titles after taking care of Roscommon. Lumen Christi is playing for its first girls hoops title after blitzing Niles Brandywine with a perfect 10-minute start in the semifinals.
The Division 2 championship tips off at 6:15 p.m. Defending division 2 champion Tecumseh outlasted Flint Powers Catholic in the highest-scoring semifinal game behind the rebounding of junior Addi Zajac and the scoring of freshman Avery Zajac. Goodrich outlasted Grand Rapids South Christian 47-41 in a showdown between the last two undefeated teams in Michigan.
Here is who will take home hardware on Saturday:
MHSAA girls basketball state championship predictions
Ishpeming (24-3) vs Portland St Patrick (23-5), D-4, 10 a.m.
St. Patrick has held four of its five playoff opponents under 30 points, which is a team goal. The strong 2-3 zone defense and scoring from freshman Macie Leonard will give the Shamrocks a great shot. But, Ishpeming will play much better than it did in Thursday’s semifinals, where it survived one of its worst shooting peformances of the season. Mya Hemmer’s height will be too much in the middle of the zone, and Jenessa Eagle will hit a few big shots as she is wont to do. Ishpeming 41, St. Patrick 33.
Muskegon (25-2) vs Detroit Renaissance (23-2), D-1, 12:15 p.m.
Muskegon fell in an early hole against Eisenhower, but showed that its vaunted defense is for real under the big lights. Eisenhower went 10 minutes scoring just three points. On top of the defense, Mariah Sain and CeCe Bonner are one of the best duos in Michigan. Renaissance also has one of the best defenses in Michigan, led by sophomore guard Maria Walker. The Phoenix offense looked disjointed at times on Friday, and will suffer a few more of those issues on Saturday as Muskegon picks up its first title in girls basketball. Muskegon 49, Renaissance 43.
Pewamo-Westphalia (26-2) vs Jackson Lumen Christi (24-3), D-3, 4 p.m.
P-W will try to sweep both basketball titles in Division 3, but it will be a tall task for the Lady Pirates on Saturday. Lumen Christi, playing in its first title game, is a team surging at the right time. The Titans are a sharp defensive team with quality shooting up and down the roster around sophomore star point guard Kenna Hunt. Lumen Christi 51, P-W 36.
Tecumseh (26-2) vs. Goodrich (28-0), D-2, 6:15 p.m.
The defending champion against the last undefeated team in Michigan. The last basketball game of this school year should produce some fireworks. Tecumseh’s offense, led by senior point guard Chloe Bullinger and Addi Zajac in the post, has been firing on all cylinders to reach a second straight title game. They will have their hands full against a quality Goodrich defense that does well limiting paint touches. Kayla Hairston will continue its hot shooting from Friday to win its third state title and first since 2013. Goodrich 62, Tecumseh 54.
Nominate a high school athlete for the Detroit Free Press boys and girls athlete of the week.
Jared Ramsey covers high school sports for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at jramsey@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: MiHSAA girls basketball 2026 state championship picks: 1 unbeaten left
Reporting by Jared Ramsey, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
