SAULT STE. MARIE - The Lake Superior State Lakers women’s basketball team have 2 pairs of sisters on their team. Grace and Maddie Bradford are Glen Lake natives, while Jaden and Lauren Wilder both hail from Manton. Jaden and Lauren are a bit further apart in age, with Jaden being a senior and Lauren being a freshman, for the Bradford’s Grace is a junior and Maddie a sophomore.
For first year head coach Grace Howrigon, she’s seen how both sets of sisters prepare each day.
“I think they (Grace and Maddie) bring out the best in each other. A lot of times they’re on different teams sometimes we try to put them together in practice, but they make each other better.” Said Howrigon. “I think they’re both extremely competitive. They both come from great high school basketball, really historically good program, they bring that to this level as well.”
“I mean, Jaden’s a fifth-year senior for us and Lauren’s a freshman, so I think you see a lot of, protective older sister, you know, making sure that Lauren knows the ropes, she’s getting things done, and, again, they just bring out the best in each other.” Said Howrigon. “A lot of times they’re guarding each other because they’re pretty similar players. They’ve got height, size, athleticism, they compete and they bring the best out of each other. So, you see the family dynamic between both sisters for sure.”
The 2 pairs of Lake State sisters will take on a fellow pair of Northern Michigan sisters later in January as Lake City’s Rylie and Mackenzie Bisballe play for Grand Valley State.