Two Local Girls Basketball Teams Play for State Titles

EAST LANSING, Mich. (WNEM) - It is Championship Saturday at the Breslin Center in East Lansing and we had two TV5 area schools ready to battle out with a chance to win a girls basketball State Championship.

In Division 3, it was the first time the Hemlock Huskies were playing for a state title. Back in 2021 they made the semi-finals but had to withdraw due to COVID.

Against Blissfield, Hemlock kept pace all game long. Chloe Watson hit a buzzer-beater three-pointer to end the 1st quarter, just like she did in the semi’s on Thursday.

Hemlock’s senior leadership was the reason for their success tonight. Regan Finkbeiner led with 19 points alongside Chloe who had 18, and Lauren Borsenik was a beast in the paint putting up 16 points.

The Huskies would pull away in the 2nd half to beat Blissfield 59-43 and for the first time ever, Hemlock is bringing home a girls basketball State Championship.

“It feels awesome,” Chloe Watson said. “I mean I would say it’s bittersweet but if it lasted forever they’d probably get sick of me being here. It was just really nice to know everyone’s going to be so proud of us and it feels really good.”

“I just want to leave a legacy of just a role model for the younger kids and just them build off of us,” Regan Finkbeiner said. “I just hope I can come back and support them when they get here.”

Meanwhile in Division 2, the Frankenmuth Eagles took on Lansing Catholic. Senior Lexi Boyke took the Eagles team and put them on her back.

Throughout most of the game, she was the only Eagle who had points on the board.

Her strong 16 point performance and the team’s strong defense kept them in for a while but couldn’t get Frankenmuth the win as Lansing Catholic wins it 43-29.

“Lexi achieved 1,000 points tonight in her high school career,” Head Coach Joe Jacobs announced after the game. “Basically three years of playing, she missed her entire Junior year so what a better platform for her than tonight to get her 1,000th point.”

“Being at the lowest of lows last year with myself. Just being stuck in a bed for multiple months just really took a toll on me,” Lexi said on her season ending injury she suffered last year. “My family helped me, my teammates helped me to use that as fuel to get here today. So I don’t know necessarily if what happened to me with my knee if I would’ve got here. So I just thank god that I was put in this position and my teammates and my family supporting me.”

Once again a massive congratulations to Frankenmuth on their incredible season and of course to the Hemlock Huskies for becoming State Champions in girls basketball.

Copyright 2023 WNEM. All rights reserved.