Ishpeming and Portland St. Patrick face off in Michigan Division 4 girls basketball state final
A title game built on contrasting paths through the bracket
Ishpeming and Portland St. Patrick reached the Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) Division 4 girls basketball state championship game after navigating a tournament that, by design, can turn quickly on matchups, depth, and late-game execution. The final was staged at the Breslin Center in East Lansing, the traditional site for Michigan’s high school basketball finals.
The matchup paired Ishpeming—an Upper Peninsula program that had surged through the postseason—with Portland St. Patrick, a small-school power from mid-Michigan that advanced out of a competitive regional route. The MHSAA bracket for Division 4 listed Portland St. Patrick among the final four teams and documented the progression to championship Saturday.
What the official tournament record shows
The MHSAA’s published tournament materials for the 2023–24 season show Ishpeming ultimately won the Division 4 state championship game 73-54 over Kingston on March 23, 2024. That result secured the program’s first Division 4 girls basketball state title in the MHSAA era for the school.
Game coverage from Michigan outlets described a contest that swung after an early Kingston lead, with Ishpeming’s offense accelerating through the middle quarters and separating late. In those reports, Ishpeming’s Jenessa Eagle was credited with a game-high 27 points, including a decisive scoring stretch in the third quarter that helped turn the final into a comfortable margin.
Where Portland St. Patrick fit in the bracket
Portland St. Patrick’s presence in the Division 4 finals weekend field was reflected in MHSAA tournament documentation, which lists the Shamrocks in the Division 4 final-four group. The championship game itself, however, was played between Ishpeming and Kingston, meaning Portland St. Patrick did not appear in the title-game box score.
That distinction matters because “state final” references in live coverage can be confusing: tournament weekends often include multiple games across divisions and time slots, and “final” may be used loosely in real-time updates to describe the culmination of a tournament run rather than the single championship matchup.
Key facts at a glance
Event: MHSAA Division 4 girls basketball state championship game
Venue: Breslin Center, East Lansing
Date: March 23, 2024
Final score: Ishpeming 73, Kingston 54
Top scorer cited in game reports: Jenessa Eagle (27 points)
The 2023–24 Division 4 title was decided by Ishpeming’s 73-54 win over Kingston on March 23, 2024.
As the postseason record makes clear, Ishpeming’s breakthrough championship was formalized not in a matchup with Portland St. Patrick, but in the final against Kingston—closing a tournament run that culminated in a decisive win on the state’s biggest stage.