Grass Lake Earns First Basketball State Title

Grass Lake High School basketball player Lexus Bargesser scored 16 points in the state championship game against Kent City on Friday at the Breslin Student Events Center in East Lansing.   Photo by Jeff Steers, JTV Sports.

By Jeff Steers
JTV Sports

(April 9, 2021 7:52 PM) Grass Lake High School varsity basketball player Lexus Bargesser said she concentrates on free throws like each one is to win a state title.

On Friday she had a chance to put that theory to work.

Bargesser made four free throws in the final 36 seconds to win the Michigan High School Athletic Association Division 3 state title.

The Warriors defeated Kent City 52-50 at the MHSAA Division 3 finals at the Breslin Student Events Center on the campus of Michigan State University.

Grass Lake finishes the season with a 20-1 record while Kent City suffers its only loss of the season with a 22-1 record.

It is the Warriors’ first state title in girls’ basketball. 

Grass Lake appeared to be in cruise control with just under 10 minutes remaining in the game and leading 44-34. But Kent City hit two consecutive 3-point baskets on their next two possessions.

The Eagles pulled within two points four times in the final three minutes but could not surpass Grass Lake – the No. 1 ranked team for most of the season in Division 3.

“Kent City is a very good team,” GLHS Coach Andrea Cabana said. “It took us a few minutes to find a defense to adjust to it (the Eagles’ offense).”

Kent City hit 62 percent of its 3-point baskets in the first quarter and led 18-14 at the end of eight minutes of action. 

Gabrielle Lutchka kept the Warriors in the game, scoring eight points in the first quarter.

The Warriors also received help from senior Amber Boomer who scored eight points in the first half.

Grass Lake held the Eagles to six points in the second quarter and led 30-24 at halftime.

Abrie Cabana scored six quick points in the third quarter as the Warriors stretched the lead to 12 points at one point. But the Eagles refused to go away setting up an exciting finish.

Bargesser scored two baskets to begin the fourth quarter for Grass Lake, giving the Warriors a 10-point lead. 

Kent City battled back trailing by only one basket in the final 2:09 of the game. Bargesser made all four of her free throws down the stretch for the win. 

“My whole career I have told myself to concentrate on free throws like you are in the state championship game,” Bargesser said. “I just stayed focused and believed in myself to know those (free throws) down.”

Bargesser took over the scoring in the fourth quarter with eight of the Warriors’ 12 points. She finished with a team-high 16 points and 10 rebounds. Lutchka scored all 14 of her points in the first half, Cabana added 10 points, Boomer scored eight points, and fellow senior Lauren Pongracz added four points for Grass Lake. 

The five starters played all 32 minutes for the Warriors.

Jenna Harrison scored 16 points to lead Kent City.