Holland Sophomore Honored for Courage
April 15, 2020
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
What LayRay Paw has experienced and overcome during her still-young life is likely unimaginable for most she encounters on the basketball court.
The Holland High sophomore and her siblings were forced to navigate a refugee camp in Thailand and the deaths of their parents – who had fled Myanmar before she was born. They then came to the United States and began a new life with a new language, new adoptive family and new customs.
And she has excelled.
Paw was recognized today as one of two winners of the 2020 Jersey Mike’s Naismith High School Basketball Courage Award.
The award recognizes a players who have “consistently gone above and beyond throughout the basketball season and (have) demonstrated courage in their approach to their team, their school, the game and their community.”
Following is an except from Paw’s nomination for the award, as told by adoptive parents Marsha and Bob Gustavson. Visit the Naismith Courage Award website for more including video with Paw, her parents and her Holland basketball and soccer coaches.
LayRay Paw was born in a refugee camp in Thailand called Mae La Oon. This particular refugee camp was for the people who were forced to flee from their home country of Myanmar due to war. They had to leave everything behind. When LayRay Paw was only a year old, her father was beaten to death after he attempted to leave the refugee camp in search of food and supplies for his wife and six children. Unfortunately, when LayRay was three years old, her mother became very ill and passed away. There are very minimal medical services for people living in refugee camps. After LayRay's mother passed away, she and her four older siblings were raised by her oldest sister, who was fourteen at the time. They survived on rationed rice, provided by the Thai government as well as anything else they could gather to eat from the river and forests. Because food was scarce, medical care almost non-existent, and fearing for the safety of her family, LayRay's oldest sister decided to sign up with the United Nations program to seek asylum in a different country.
In 2010, when LayRay was six years old, she and her five siblings were resettled in the United States and were all adopted by us. It was a huge culture shock for LayRay and her siblings upon arriving in the US. They did not speak or understand any English, had never seen or used running water, electricity, or toilets. They also had to learn to eat all new food, although rice continues to be the staple for each meal. Since being in the USA for ten years, LayRay now eats most American food, with the exception of cheese. Not only has LayRay completely caught up to her peers in school, but she excels in the classroom and she participates in many different extracurricular activities. Despite all that she has been through in her short life, she has demonstrated such resilience and is now a teenager who loves life, gives 100% to whatever she is working on and is always encouraging and helpful to others.
On top of basketball LayRay also plays soccer. During basketball season she works with our community to help run our elementary school camps. Girls are drawn to her. She is an amazing positive influence.
Photos courtesy of the Gustavson family and Holland athletic department.
Breslin Bound: 2022-23 Girls Report Week 11
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
February 13, 2023
It’s just about time for 12 weeks of results to provide the first signs on the roadmap for the final three weeks of this girls basketball season.
The District seeding process, based on Michigan Power Ratings (MPR), will produce the top two seeded teams in every District bracket this upcoming Sunday – and by noon those full Districts will be drawn based also on the formula for this year’s brackets determined this past Sunday. See the MPR page of the MHSAA Website for explanations of the formula and all other things MPR-related.
“Breslin Bound” is powered by MI Student Aid and based on results and schedules posted for each school at MHSAA.com.
Week in Review
The countdown of last week’s five most intriguing results:
1. Detroit Edison 51, Ypsilanti Arbor Prep 35 The Division 2 Pioneers (14-3) won this matchup of 2022 Finals champions, downing Division 3’s Arbor Prep (12-5).
2. Calumet 59, Escanaba 57 The Division 3 Copper Kings (13-4) bounced back from a one-point loss to Negaunee three days earlier to hand the Division 2 Eskymos (15-1) their lone loss this season.
3. Coldwater 57, Jackson Northwest 51 These two are tied atop the Interstate 8 Athletic Conference standings after Coldwater (17-1) avenged a four-point Jan. 10 loss to the Mounties (16-2).
4. Traverse City St. Francs 47, Elk Rapids 43 (OT) The Gladiators (15-2) pulled a half-game ahead of Elk Rapids in the Lake Michigan Conference standings thanks to finishing a regular-season sweep of the Elks (14-3).
5. Hancock 36, Houghton 29 The Calumet win above may have caught more eyes statewide, but Hancock’s over the rival Gremlins (15-2) clinched a share of the Western Peninsula Athletic Conference West title and moved the Bulldogs to 15-1 overall.
Watch List
With an eye toward March, here are two teams in each division making sparks:
DIVISION 1
Temperance Bedford (18-1) The Kicking Mules are staring down a possible first league title in more than a decade, which tells you plenty about the Southeastern Conference Red as they’ve averaged 17.3 wins total over that time. They’re in line for that opportunity with three league games to play thanks to a 37-29 win over co-leader Saline (16-3) on Friday, after taking their only defeat from the Hornets – by 17 – just two weeks earlier. Bedford sits No. 8 in Division 1 MPR.
Utica Ford (16-1) The Falcons won the Macomb Area Conference White by four games, and lost this season only on Dec. 6 to Rochester (15-3). The league title was Ford’s first since 2016-17, and the 16 wins equal last season’s total and include nine over teams that are or would be .500 or better without losses to the Falcons. They’ll play Macomb Dakota in a MAC Red/White Tournament semifinal on Tuesday.
DIVISION 2
Detroit Edison (14-3) The reigning Division 2 champions moved into the top spot in Division 2 MPR this week, with a 9-1 record against in-state MHSAA opponents after opening with six of their first seven games against teams from Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. The Pioneers came back from a Jan. 31 loss to West Bloomfield (17-2) with wins over Farmington Hills Mercy (16-2), Grand Rapids Catholic Central, Detroit Cass Tech and Ypsilanti Arbor Prep (12-5). They’ll finish their in-state schedule against Frankenmuth and Grosse Pointe South.
Warren Fitzgerald (18-0) The Spartans arguably have undergone the most significant turnaround of any program, girls or boys, statewide this season after finishing 1-16 a year ago. They won the MAC Silver by five games and take on New Haven in a Tuesday MAC Bronze/Silver Tournament semifinal after winning their first meeting this season by 39. Early victories over Hazel Park (13-5) and Marine City (14-3) were signs of the program’s rebound, and no opponent has gotten within single digits since Jan. 5.
DIVISION 3
Hemlock (15-3) The Huskies wrapped up an outright Tri-Valley Conference 10-1 championship with a 72-53 win over second-place Standish-Sterling (15-3). Their only losses came to three Division 2 teams in the TVC-8 – Saginaw Swan Valley (14-4), Freeland (14-4) and Frankenmuth (15-2), and in addition they have notable wins over St. Charles (16-2), Ithaca (15-3) and Division 1 Midland Dow (11-7). The St. Charles win avenged Hemlock’s loss in last year’s District.
Niles Brandywine (15-2) The Bobcats will finish second in the Lakeland Athletic Conference with those two losses to league champion Buchanan, but can secure second alone Friday against Benton Harbor. Brandywine also has wins over league leaders Bronson (15-3), Colon (14-4) and Cassopolis (13-4). The Bobcats finished 18-3 a year ago but ran into Buchanan in their first District game, and it’s possible they could meet again although at this moment they’ll be seeded on opposite sides of a strong bracket.
DIVISION 4
Hillman (15-3) The Tigers have won 11 straight in claiming the North Star League Little Dipper championship outright after sharing it last season. Some solid wins are bolstered by strong losses as well, as Hillman has fallen only to Eastern Upper Peninsula Athletic Conference champion Cedarville (13-3), twice, and Johannesburg-Lewiston (13-5). A second matchup with Division 3 Alcona (12-5) and a season-ender against Division 3 Oscoda should provide additional postseason prep.
St. Charles (16-2) The Bulldogs can clinch a share of the Mid-State Activities Conference championship Tuesday against Ashley, which would be their third in three seasons since joining the league. What’s new is that St. Charles is in Division 4 this season, coming off a Division 3 District title in 2022, and will almost assuredly enter this year’s bracket as the top seed thanks in part to a pair of wins over Carson City-Crystal (14-4) and those losses to Hemlock and Swan Valley.
Can’t-Miss Contests
Be on the lookout for results of these games coming up:
Wednesday – Holt (15-2) at Flint Carman-Ainsworth (14-0) – Both are moving in on potential league championships but also are building high hopes for the Division 1 tournament.
Friday – Goodrich (17-1) at Lake Fenton (19-0) – Lake Fenton leads the Flint Metro League Stars by a game thanks to its 50-44 win over Goodrich on Jan. 20, but this will decide if the title is shared or outright.
Saturday – Haslett (19-0) at Rockford (16-1) – These league leaders also have high postseason hopes, with Rockford No. 1 in Division 1 MPR and Haslett No. 5 in Division 2.
Saturday – Detroit Catholic High School League finals – Championship games in both brackets will be played at University of Detroit Mercy.
Sunday – Detroit Public Schools League final – The championship game will tip off at 3 p.m. at Wayne State University.
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PHOTOS (Top) Farmington Hills Mercy's Owynn Evans runs the offense as her team clinched a share of the Catholic League Central championship last week with a 60-55 win over Dearborn Divine Child. (Middle) Ada Forest Hills Eastern's Amelia Elms (4) looks for an open teammate during Friday's 56-40 loss to Grand Rapids Catholic Central. (Below) A pair of Paw Paw defenders work to wall off Otsego's Madison Hoffman during their matchup earlier this season. (Photos by Douglas Bargerstock, Michigan Sports Photo and Gary Shook, respectively.)