Frankenmuth at Goodrich – – Girls Basketball – – The Bleacher Denizen – – February 11, 2025 – – by Chuck Krafft
Tonight, your Bleacher Denizen is off to Goodrich High School where the Martians are not invading anyone tonight. Instead, the Goodrich Martians will be hosting the Frankenmuth Eagles in a Girls Basketball Game. (Frankenmuth is your Bleacher Denizen’s Alma Mater.) The Martians bring a 14-2 record into this game while the Eagles have a 14-3 record. Every team that has beaten either one of these Division 2 State Powers is either Division 1 or a top ten team in Division 2.
I had a nice drive to Goodrich. This is only the second time I have ever been to the Martian gym. (The other time was a Saturday girls game against St. Ignace a few years ago.) I’m looking forward to a great game between two top ten teams in Division 2! It’s great to see the Martian gym again (although I suppose their being the home team precludes using any “Martian Invasion” jokes.)
And while we wait for the game to start, I hope you will enjoy this original tune, “A Man Like Me” from my You Tube Channel!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTdeYRUEOkc
Frankenmuth Coach Joe Jacobs provided me with this information when I watched his Eagles play at Freeland last Friday.
Clare Conzelmann is a four year varsity player who may be All-State this year. She plays guard, but is taller than most guards, so she can defend anywhere on the floor. She is quick and athletic in addition to being tall and long, so she can create chaos for opposing offenses. This year, she is a big threat from the three point line and averages over 17 points per game.
Rosemary Brenner is a great leader who defends well in the post; she is also quick enough to play on the perimeter. She is a team leader who is a great passer. (She has also run the point for the Eagles in the past.) Izzy Bernthal is a tough rebounder who can hit three point, midrange or close in shots. Macy Donovan is another tall Eagle guard. She uses her height and quickness to create formidable problems for the opposition. She also has a nice three point shot.
Grace Brenner brings an excellent basketball IQ to her point guard position. She is always in the right position on defense, where she gives the Eagles another strong perimeter defender. On offense, she is a great passer and dependable ball handler. Alyson Peterson and Lucy Conzelmann play intense perimeter defense. They are aggressive defenders who get a lot of deflections and create a lot of turnovers.
I learned tonight that Rosemary Brenner and Izzy Bernthal, who usually start for the Eagles will not be able to play tonight because of illness and injury.
Goodrich Coach Jason Gray also helped me with information about his Martian players.
Kayla Hairston is an excellent three point shooter who is also a threat to score on slashes to the basket. In addition to that, she is a fine passer. I remember she had an excellent game where she shot the lights out in this game at Frankenmuth last year.
https://thebleacherdenizen.com/2023/12/19/__trashed-3/ (Please ignore the “trashed” in the link. It works fine and will not lead to malware.)
Ella Place is an excellent three point shooter who cuts to the basket really well. Tanner Schramm is an excellent post defender and rebounder. She is a versatile offensive player who passes well, can score in the post, slash to the basket or snipe away from the three point line. Baylor Lauinger is a talented athlete who can defend in the post where she also rebounds well or on the perimeter. She gets a lot of steals; on offense she is a threat to score on slashes to the basket or from the three point line.
Lucy Rafferty is an energetic perimeter defender who makes sharp cuts on offense and runs the floor well. Ella Aagesen defends the post well and is a threat from the three point line. Addyson West and Kaylee Eickhoff are tough, energetic perimeter defenders who run the floor well and can score on slashes to the basket.
I was able to see the entire JV game. Goodrich got off to an 8-6 lead after one quarter and extended the lead to 14-9 at halftime. In the third quarter, each team had ten points; Goodrich led 24-19 at the start of the fourth quarter. Goodrich had a 14-5 advantage in the fourth quarter. The Martian JVs won the game by the final score of 38-24.
Miranda Polley led the Eagle JVs with 9 points. Nyla Sholten contributed 7 points. Brooke Bickel scored 6 points and Landyn Kroeger tallied 2 points.
Brookelyn Webb led the victorious Martian JVs with 16 points. Maddie Szyarto supported her teammate with 7 points and Ali Raether chipped in with 6 points. Jordyn Kosmowski tossed in 5 points. Olivia Millerd and London Rafferty each added 2 points.
It is now time to review this game through the somewhat clear lenses of an Aging Bleacher Denizen who was never able to escape church league when he attempted to play basketball in previous times. He was showing a lot of promise as a dunker, but when the basketball powers that be raised the rims from five feet to ten feet, your Bleacher Denizen’s hops (if you can call them that) were insufficient to rise to the challenge (specifically the rim.) Your Bleacher Denizen’s playing time faded away after that.
Frankenmuth wins the opening tap. Kayla Hairston steals the ball for the Martians and hits a fast break layup to give Goodrich the first two points of the game. Frankenmuth beats the Goodrich press and Clare Conzelmann passes to Macy Donovan, who hits a layup for Frankenmuth to tie the game at 2-2.
Goodrich loses a pass out of bounds. Frankenmuth misses a driving layup. Macy Donovan blocks a Goodrich threeball from the side. The loose ball goes out of bounds and the Martians get another opportunity. Goodrich misses a three pointer from the corner. Ella Place grabs the offensive rebound for the Martians. Goodrich drives the baseline, but misses a layup. Clare Conzelmann drives and hits a layup to give Frankenmuth a 4-2 lead.
Goodrich misfires on a triple try from the side. Frankenmuth loses a pass out of bounds. Goodrich misses a driving layup. Lucy Rafferty grabs the offensive rebound for the Martians and passes to Ella Place, who throws in a threeball from the side to give Goodrich a 5-4 lead.
Frankenmuth misfires on a threeball from the side. Goodrich loses a pass out of bounds. Grace Brenner drives, spins, and hits a layup to give Frankenmuth a one point lead. Lucy Conzelmann steals the ball for the Eagles and draws a Martian foul in the process. The Conzelmann Connection comes through for Frankenmuth as Lucy passes to Clare, who hits a three pointer from the side to give the Eagles a 9-5 lead.
Goodrich misses a three point shot from the wing. Baylor Lauinger is fouled on a putback and hits one of her two free throws to trim the Frankenmuth lead to 9-6 with 3:23 remaining in the opening quarter.
Kaylee Eickhoff forces a Frankenmuth dribbler to step on the sideline and the Eagles turn the ball over. Goodrich misses a three pointer from the wing. Grace Brenner passes to Macy Donovan, who spins and is fouled on a layup. Macy Donovan is fouled on a layup and hits two free throws to boost the Eagle lead to 11-6 with 2:48 to go in the first quarter.
Kaylee Hairston drives and hits a layup for Goodrich. Baylor Lauinger knocks the ball out of bounds; Frankenmuth retains possession. Frankenmuth misses a driving twelve foot shot in the lane. Lucy Conzelmann ties up the ball. The Possession Arrow is having a late dinner with its Inner Circle; they all admire Ms. Conzelmann’s aggression and decide to give the ball to Frankenmuth.
Frankenmuth drives the baseline and misses a layup. Grace Brenner plays great defense to prevent a Goodrich dribbler from driving in for an easy layup. Kayla Hairston hits a ten foot shot off the dribble from the side of the lane to cut the Frankenmuth lead to one point. Kaylee Eickhoff harasses an Eagle dribbler until she loses the ball out of bounds. Addyson West passes to Ella Aagesen, who hits a three point shot from the side to give Goodrich the lead. Frankenmuth misses a heave as the first quarter buzzer puts a stop to the period.
After one quarter, Goodrich holds a 13-11 lead.
Goodrich inbounds the ball to start the second quarter. Kayla Hairston passes to Ella Place, who hits a three point shot from the wing for Goodrich. Frankenmuth misses a driving layup. Goodrich misses a threeball from the corner. Tanner Schramm hits a putback to boost her Martians to an 18-11 lead.
Alyson Peterson hits a twelve foot shot off the dribble in the lane for Frankenmuth. Ella Aagesen passes to Tanner Schramm, who hits a three point shot from the side for Goodrich. Ella Place gets a hand on the ball and Frankenmuth loses it out of bounds. Baylor Lauinger passes to Ella Place, who sinks a threeball from the side to give Goodrich a 24-13 lead.
Macy Donovan hits a fast break layup for Frankenmuth. Goodrich misses a threeball from the corner and fouls on the rebound. Alyson Peterson passes to Lucy Conzelmann, who banks in a threeball from the side for the Eagles. (I was on the other side of the gym behind the scorers table, but I still say I heard her yell “BANK” when she released the ball.) The Goodrich lead is trimmed to 24-18.
Alyson Peterson ignores the Bleacher Denizen straining to hear the call and steals the ball for the Eagles. Frankenmuth misses a layup. Alyson Peterson knocks a pass out of bounds; Goodrich retains possession. Goodrich misses a three pointer from the top of the key. Ella Aagesen pulls down the offensive rebound for the Martians. Lucy Conzelmann steals the ball for the Eagles. Kaylee Eickhoff steals the ball for Goodrich. Goodrich misses a layup. Grace Brenner drives and hits a layup for Frankenmuth to cut the Goodrich lead to 24-20.
Macy Donovan blocks a Goodrich layup. Alyson Peterson tosses the ball to Clare Conzelmann, who drives and tosses in a layup to trim the Goodrich lead to two points. Lucy Rafferty drives and hits a layup for Goodrich. Frankenmuth misses a fast break layup. the rebound goes out of bounds and Goodrich takes possession.
Clare Conzelmann gets her hand on the ball, but Goodrich is able to recover. The Martians misfire on a threeball from the side. Frankenmuth misses a layup; the rebound goes out of bounds and the Eagles get another opportunity. Clare Conzelmann drives the baseline and is fouled on a layup. She hits one of her two free throws to shave the Goodrich lead to 26-23 with 45.03 seconds left in the half. (The Goodrich clock shows hundredths of a second when the clock is stopped. I like this!!!)
Lucy Rafferty is fouled on a driving layup and hits two free throws for Goodrich with 9.3 seconds to go in the half. Macy Donovan passes to Clare Conzelmann, who banks in a threeball from the wing just before the second quarter buzzer announces its presence.
Goodrich has a 28-26 lead at halftime.
Clare Conzelmann leads Frankenmuth’s scoring with 11 points at halftime and Macy Donovan has 6 points.
Ella Place leads Goodrich with 9 points and Kayla Hairston has 6 points.
Frankenmuth inbounds the ball to get quarter number three underway. Macy Donovan is fouled on a driving layup and hits two free throws for Frankenmuth to tie the game. Alyson Peterson knocks the ball out of bounds; Goodrich retains possession. Macy Donovan blocks a Goodrich layup.
Frankenmuth misses a three point shot from the side. Lucy Conzelmann gets her hand on a Martian pass; the ball goes out of bounds and Goodrich gets it back. Baylor Lauinger is fouled on a driving layup and hits two free throws to give Goodrich a 30-28 lead with 5:55 remaining in quarter number three.
Lucy Conzelmann drives and hits a layup for Frankenmuth to tie the game. Goodrich loses a pass out of bounds. Frankenmuth misses a driving layup. Clare Conzelmann steals the ball for the Eagles and hits a fast break layup to give Frankenmuth a 32-30 lead.
Kayla Hairston drives and hits a layup for Goodrich to tie the game. Frankenmuth misses a threeball from the wing, but because the clock had not started, Frankenmuth gets the ball back. The Eagles miss a threeball from the corner. Lucy Conzelmann knocks the ball out of bounds; Goodrich retains possession. Baylor Lauinger drives and dishes to Kayla Hairston, who is cutting to the basket and hits a layup to give Goodrich a 34-32 lead.
Frankenmuth misses a threeball from the wing. The rebound goes out of bounds and Goodrich takes possession. Grace Brenner steals the ball for the Eagles. Clare Conzelmann hits a fast break layup for Frankenmuth to tie the game. Goodrich misses a fifteen foot shot from the baseline. Baylor Lauinger pulls down the offensive rebound for the Martians. Goodrich is fouled on a layup, but misses two free throws. With 2:39 left in quarter number three, the game is tied at 34-34.
Macy Donovan hits a layup for Frankenmuth. Goodrich misses a three point shot from the wing. Frankenmuth commits an offensive foul. Goodrich misses a three point shot from the side. Kayla Hairston steals the ball for Goodrich. Alla Aagesen hits a three point shot from the side to give Goodrich a 37-36 lead.
Frankenmuth misses a threeball from the side. Goodrich is given a technical foul. Clare Conzelmann hits one of her two free throws for Frankenmuth to tie the game with just 34.69 seconds remaining in quarter number three. Frankenmuth inbounds the ball after the technical. Kayla Hairston, the shortest player on the floor, blocks an Eagle layup. The loose ball goes out of bounds and Frankenmuth gets the ball back. The Eagles miss a driving reverse layup. Goodrich rebounds the ball as the third quarter buzzer makes its presence known.
After three quarters, this game between two of the top ten Division 2 Girls’ teams in Michigan is tied at 37-37.
Goodrich inbounds the ball to start the fourth quarter. The Martians misfire on a threeball from the side. Kayla Hairston draws a charging foul from Frankenmuth. Goodrich misses a three pointer from the corner. The rebound goes out of bounds and the Martians get another opportunity. Goodrich misses a layup. Baylor Lauinger pulls down the offensive rebound for the Martians. Clare Conzelmann blocks a Goodrich layup. The loose ball goes out of bounds and Goodrich gets it back.
Grace Brenner blocks a Goodrich ten foot shot in the lane. Alyson Peterson passes to Grace Brenner, who throws in a threeball from the wing to give Frankenmuth the lead. Goodrich misses a driving, spinning layup. Alyson Peterson drives the baseline and banks in a six foot shot to give Frankenmuth a 42-37 lead.
Goodrich misses a three point shot from the wing. Tanner Schramm steals the ball for the Martians. Goodrich misses a threeball from the corner. Frankenmuth reciprocates and misses a threeball from the corner. Tanner Schramm drives and hits a layup to trim the Frankenmuth lead to 42-39.
Frankenmuth misses a ten foot shot off the dribble from the baseline. Macy Donovan pulls down the offensive rebound for the Eagles. Baylor Lauinger knocks the ball away from Frankenmuth and Kayla Hairston picks it up for Goodrich. Chloe Comstock taps the ball away from Goodrich; Ella Place races to the backcourt to recover the ball for Goodrich. The Martians miss a driving layup.
Ella Place gets the offensive rebound for Goodrich. The Martians miss a driving layup. Baylor Lauinger knocks a Frankenmuth inbound pass out of bounds; Frankenmuth retains possession. Kayla Hairston knocks the ball out of bounds; Frankenmuth gets the ball back. Grace Brenner is fouled and hits one of her two free throws for Frankenmuth to give her Eagles a 43-39 lead with 27.60 seconds left on the clock.
Grace Brenner steals the ball and is fouled. She hits two more free throws to give her Eagles a six point lead. Goodrich misses a driving layup. Frankenmuth dribbles out the last few seconds left in the game.
Frankenmuth wins this clash between two of the top Division 2 teams in Michigan by the final score of 45-39.
Kayla Hairston had 10 points to lead the Goodrich scoring. Ella Place supported her teammate with 9 points. Tanner Schramm contributed 7 points. Ella Aagesen scored 6 points. Lucy Rafferty added 4 points and Baylor Lauinger put in 3 points.
Frankenmuth’s Clare Conzelmann led all scorers with 16 points. After the game I learned that she scored her 1000th varsity point in tonight’s game! Macy Donovan and Grace Brenner joined their teammate in double figures with 10 points each. Lucy Conzelmann scored 5 points and Alyson Peterson added 4 points.