Another Title for Alessi, Brother Rice
June 7, 2014
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
TROY – Along with a fortunate few Saturday, Jason Alessi finished his senior year with a win – and an MHSAA title.
But there can’t be many over the last 90 years who have contributed to seven Finals championships.
The Birmingham Brother Rice senior capped an incredibly successful career by helping the Warriors to their 10th straight Division 1 title after also helping Brother Rice to its third straight Division 2 football championship in the fall.
This spring presented its own set of challenges for Alessi and the Warriors, who lost to an in-state opponent (eventual Division 2 champ Detroit Country Day) for the first time since 2002. But the end result proved typical of an Alessi-led team – Brother Rice dominated Detroit Catholic Central 23-7 in his final championship game.
“As an athlete, you always want to do more. After that one championship, you want the next. There’s always bigger and better things,” Alessi said. “I’ve been lucky enough to win seven overall and four in just lacrosse. Hopefully I can keep that going in my future.
“As a senior there’s always an amount of pressure to go out on top and win a state championship. And finally that’s off our shoulders, and we can say at Brother Rice that we were champions. Not too many people can say that across the state or country, but we’re fortunate that we can say that.”
Brother Rice and DCC had met twice before this season; the Warriors won 15-9 and then 12-8 in the Detroit Catholic League Division 1 championship game.
So it was a little bit shocking when Brother Rice (19-4) jumped out to a 4-0 lead after just nine minutes and led 16-3 at halftime.
Alessi, who tied an MHSAA Finals record with six goals in the 2013 championship game, scored Saturday’s first and finished this time with four goals and three assists. But sophomore Morgan Macko tied that record with six goals, to go with two assists, and junior John Lockwood and senior Joe Dudley both added three goals.
“Our guys came out pumped. When you get CC in the state championship game, that’s a huge rivalry on any day let alone a Saturday in June,” Brother Rice first-year coach Ajay Chawla said. “They had some great looks early, and I think they deflated CC pretty early. When you take the air out of a team like that, the rest of the game, you kind of own it.
“All of our guys played awesome today. Alessi’s … a guy who comes around once every 15, 20 years. You’ve gotta take advantage of him when you have him. He’s been awesome for us, and today he was a big-time leader for us.”
Brother Rice broke its 2007 MHSAA Finals record of 17 goals, and the teams together set a record with 30 goals in a championship game, three more than Country Day and East Grand Rapids combined to score in the 2005 Division 2 Final.
But that’s little consolation for the Shamrocks (15-6), who made their fourth championship game appearance in the MHSAA tournament’s 10-year history and first since falling to Brother Rice in 2010.
DCC defeated Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern 15-14 in overtime in Wednesday’s Semifinal, and Shamrocks coach Dave Wilson felt that effort might’ve zapped a little bit of his team’s usually energy.
“The lockerroom didn’t feel good. The bus ride didn’t feel good. I just thought that there was a lack of energy that we had all year,” Wilson said. “I would have to say out of a 48-minute game, we had six to eight minutes of possession time. We’re the number one scoring team in the state at 15.6 goals per game; we had seven goals.
“Give Rice credit. They dominated the tempo of the game by keeping possession. And it’s a mathematical certainty that every time you give the other team the ball, eventually they are going to score and they’re going to score a lot.”
Senior Jack Van Acker scored three goals to lead the Shamrocks.
Alessi initially committed to play college lacrosse next season at the University of Michigan, but since has chosen to continue his football career at Yale University. He’s also in the MHSAA football record book for multiple kicking accomplishments and two kickoff returns – including a 91-yarder for a touchdown during the Warriors’ 2012 championship game win over Muskegon.
“In high school, I’ve had a bunch of great times, to say the least,” Alessi said. “A bunch of memories to look back on and tell my kids, and (making) all my friends. It’s unreal almost.
“The fans every Friday night, and then coming in for lacrosse. … I’ll sure miss it.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Birmingham Brother Rice players, including Morgan Macko (13) celebrate a goal Saturday. (Middle) Brother Rice’s Brian Cosgrove walls off Detroit Catholic Central’s Marc Longe.
Preview: New Champions Guaranteed as U-M Welcomes Boys Lacrosse Finals
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
June 7, 2024
Both MHSAA Boys Lacrosse Finals on Saturday will crown new champions – and one contender is seeking to clinch a title for the first time in its program’s history.
Those opportunities were created when Hartland defeated reigning Division 1 champion Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice to advance, and Ada Forest Hills Eastern ended a repeat attempt in Division 2 by Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central. A championship Saturday also would be the first in FHE history – but the Hawks must take on 2023 runner-up Detroit Country Day, which won their regular-season meeting 11 weeks ago. Hartland faces reigning Division 1 runner-up Detroit Catholic Central, the first time these two will meet for a Finals title.
Both games will be played at University of Michigan Lacrosse Stadium for the first time, and below is a glance at all four contenders. Rankings as part of “best wins” are based on the Michigan Power Rating formula. Tickets cost $11 and are good for both games, and may be purchased online only at GoFan.
Both games will be broadcast and available with subscription from MHSAA.tv.
Division 1
DETROIT CATHOLIC CENTRAL
Record/MPR: 20-3, No. 2
League finish: First in Catholic High School League Central
Coach: Dave Wilson, 19th season (269-99)
Championship history: Division 1 champion 2018, nine runner-up finishes.
Best wins: 16-5 over No. 1 Rockford in Semifinal, 19-4 over No. 8 Brighton in Quarterfinal, 15-2 over No. 5 Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice, 13-3 over No. 7 Birmingham Seaholm, 10-8 over Division 2 No. 1 Detroit Country Day, 17-8 over Division 2 No. 2 Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central.
Players to watch: Joe Curtin, sr. D; Charles Graves, sr. G; Lachlan Moffatt, jr. A. (Statistics not submitted.)
Outlook: DCC returned to the championship game last year for the first time since 2019 and has dominated this spring, suffering its only in-state loss to Brother Rice 16-10 on April 9 but avenging it in the CHSL Central championship game a month later. The other two losses were by a goal apiece to Ohio powers Cincinnati St. Xavier and Dublin Jerome (the latter in overtime). Those three defeats were three of only four games during which the Shamrocks gave up more than eight goals; they’ve given up two or fewer in nine wins. Moffatt, Curtin and Graves all made the all-state second team last season.
HARTLAND
Record/MPR: 19-3, No. 4
League finish: First in Kensington Lakes Activities Association West
Coach: Nick Levanti, fifth season (80-12)
Championship history: Division 1 champion 2022, runner-up 2021.
Best wins: 11-10 over No. 5 Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice in Semifinal, 17-2 (Quarterfinal) and 14-13 (2OT) over No. 3 Lake Orion, 17-6 over No. 8 Brighton, 12-9 over Division 2 No. 4 East Grand Rapids, 11-7 over Division 2 No. 2 Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central.
Players to watch: Dylan Ayotte, sr. A (44 goals, 16 assists); Jacob Ross, sr. A (67 goals, 23 assists); Drew Lockwood, sr. M (64 goals, 59 assists); Jake Lewis, sr. A (69 goals, 40 assists).
Outlook: After breaking through the DCC/Brother Rice hold on the Division 1 Final in 2021, Hartland will now make its third championship game appearance over the last four seasons and after avenging a mid-April loss to Brother Rice to get here. The other defeats came to Rockford by a goal in double overtime and also to St. Xavier, and the Eagles otherwise have mostly dominated as well with 10 wins giving up three or fewer goals including their first four of the postseason. Lockwood made the all-state first team in 2023, and Ayotte and Ross both made the second team.
Division 2
ADA FOREST HILLS EASTERN
Record/MPR: 16-4, No. 3
League finish: Third in Ottawa-Kent Conference Tier 1
Coach: Tony Boggiano, second season (30-9)
Championship history: Division 1 runner-up 2021 and 2019, Division 1 runner-up 2013 and 2011 as part of cooperative with Forest Hills Northern.
Best wins: 11-10 over No. 2 Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central in Semifinal, 13-8 over No. 4 East Grand Rapids, 17-9 over No. 5 Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern, 16-9 over No. 7 Byron Center, 17-5 over No. 10 Pontiac Notre Dame Prep, 14-1 over Division 1 No. 7 Birmingham Seaholm.
Players to watch: Preston Hoexum, sr. A (72 goals, 34 assists); Will Morgan, sr. A (60 goals, 32 assists); Jackson Arnold, jr. M (28 goals, 25 assists); Mark Fuehrer, sr. A (53 goals, 19 assists).
Outlook: Forest Hills Eastern avenged a 15-11 loss to Forest Hills Central from April 29 to advance to this weekend, and its only other losses were to Division 1 Rockford and Grand Ledge and 16-7 on March 23 to Country Day. Hoexum and senior Noah Benedict (24 goals, 21 assists) made the all-state first team last season, and Morgan earned an honorable mention. Senior Camden Klaes has been strong in goal giving up 7.9 goals per game and saving 54 percent of shots he’s faced. Boggiano played at Forest Hills Eastern as part of the school’s first cooperative seasons from 2004-07, and he also previously served as Country Day’s offensive coordinator from 2015-19.
DETROIT COUNTRY DAY
Record/MPR: 18-2, No. 1
League finish: Does not play in a league.
Coach: Chris Garland, sixth season (79-22)
Championship history: Three MHSAA titles (most recent 2014), three runner-up finishes.
Best wins: 15-7 (Semifinal) and 12-9 over No. 4 East Grand Rapids, 18-4 over No. 9 Pontiac Notre Dame Prep in Quarterfinal, 13-9 over No. 7 Byron Center, 14-6 over No. 2 Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central, 14-7 over No. 5 Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern, 16-7 over No. 3 Ada Forest Hills Eastern, 9-8 over Division 1 No. 7 Birmingham Seaholm, 13-8 over Division 1 No. 6 Grand Ledge.
Players to watch: Caden Daley, sr. A (50 goals, 16 assists); Will Thompson, sr. A (50 goals, 30 assists); Oliver Aaron, sr. A (22 goals, 18 assists); Kellen Curby, jr. G (5.47 goals-against average, .570 save %).
Outlook: Country Day has finished runner-up the last two seasons, and the majority of last year’s top contributors are back for another title attempt after the 2023 lineup included only one senior starter. Daley, senior defenders Shafeek Halabi and Trevor Corless, and senior long stick midfielder Andrew Gryzenia all made the all-state first team last season, while Aaron and Curby made the second team and Thompson made the third. Sophomore Keaton Yearego (50 goals, 15 assists) is another big-time scorer as well, and four more players not listed above have found the net at least 17 times this spring.
PHOTO Ada Forest Hills Eastern’s Will Morgan (2) maneuvers to get off a shot during his team’s Semifinal win over Forest Hills Central. (Photo by Michigan Sports Photo.)