On Tuesday the Army National Guard presented the Goodrich Girls Basketball team a national ranking trophy as part of the MaxPreps Tour of Champions. The Lady Martians were only one of 10 schools honored nationwide on the tour after winning the school’s first-ever Class B state championship.
On March 17 the number one-ranked Goodrich Lady Martians capped off an undefeated season by outlasting Grand Rapids Catholic Central team, 60-53, winning the Class B girls basketball state championship game at the Breslin Center on the campus of Michigan State University. The team finished the season 28-0.
Jason Gray, Goodrich Girls Basketball coach, said the accolades are overwhelming.
‘The national honor is humbling,? said Gray. ‘As the season went on we started receiving national recognition’but we tried not to focus on that aspect. The USA Today ranked us 13th in the country and now MaxPreps selects us? it’s just very special and a great recognition.?
Northern California-based MaxPreps ranks more than 20,000 girls basketball teams nationwide to select its Tour of Champions that stopped in Goodrich last week. The company uses the Freeman Rankings a sophisticated computer program that takes into consideration several factors including the number of wins, quality of wins, margin of victory for wins and strength of team schedules.
Chris Stonebraker, director of marketing for MaxPreps, said Goodrich was selected in the top 10 of those 20,000 teams.
‘If you were to do the math on 20,000 schools, GHS is in the top half of a half percent,? he said.
‘When you’re a public school like Goodrich it’s an even bigger accomplishment,? he said. ‘It’s especially difficult to keep the talent in the school on a consistent basis’it’s homegrown. Public school teams like Goodrich require a lot of community and parent support’it really shows in Goodrich.?
In the 28 victories during the 2011-12 basketball season the Goodrich Girls Varsity Basketball team scored 1,791 points and gave up 892 points. ‘The girls doubled the score on the opponents,? said Stonebraker. ‘That’s very impressive.?
MaxPreps.com is an online high school sports site, offering high school sports coverage, with news, analysis, rankings, and streaming content.