DCC Striding Through Memorable Start
May 10, 2018
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The win was only one and came now a month ago, and the first of two possible rematches is Saturday.
So everything about this Detroit Catholic Central boys lacrosse season hasn’t been and shouldn’t be about a 10-9 overtime victory April 10 over Birmingham Brother Rice, the Shamrocks’ first over their rival since 1994.
But edging the Warriors also has served as a springboard for top-ranked DCC, which will face Brother Rice again in Saturday’s Detroit Catholic League A-Division championship game and quite possibly in next month’s MHSAA Division 1 Final for the fifth straight season.
DCC is the MHSAA/Applebee’s “Team of the Month” for April, in part for overcoming the Warriors for the first time in decades, but also for a 12-2 record that includes a 9-0 mark against in-state competition.
The Shamrocks also own wins over No. 9 Rockford and Division 2 No. 2 East Grand Rapids, last season’s champion in that division, and claimed a two-goal thriller against Toronto St. Michael’s College. Those are among performances that have given 13-year coach Dave Wilson an idea what his team is capable of heading into the two biggest regular-season games of the season and the MHSAA Regional starting next week.
“They’re willing to do some of the really little things, and listen and make sure we’re all on the same page,” Wilson said of his team. “And they just have a willingness to go to the next step.”
So far, those next steps have looked like six wins scoring at least 20 goals – and perhaps more impressive, 11 games giving up nine or fewer and seven giving up four or less. The losses came by only seven goals to undefeated Indiana powerhouse Culver Military Academy and five to Ohio’s Dublin Coffman, which had just one defeat entering this week.
DCC has a mix of experience with seven seniors and larger groups of juniors and sophomores. Senior attack Peter Thompson and junior attack Joey Kamish are returning all-staters. And Wilson recently was named to this year’s Michigan High School Lacrosse Coaches Association Hall of Fame class.
Senior midfielder Ethan Pattinson is among those leading the way on this run – “When things really get tough, he just puts it into another gear,” Wilson said. The coach also mentioned senior mid Patrick Brandemihl, who is among those doing those little things, providing great defense and the occasional goal while filling roles that frequently are unsung.
After Brother Rice on Saturday comes Division 2 top-ranked and undefeated Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central a week from today – and then another opportunity to take another giant step. And that takes us back to Brother Rice one more time – the Shamrocks fell to the Warriors by only a goal in last season’s Division 1 Final and by only two in the 2016 championship game.
“It’s given us a nice confidence booster,” Wilson said of the win over the Warriors on April 10. “But no matter how emotional a win, that’s still only one win.”
And yet, he’s learned something else promising about this team from that game and its mostly impressive first six weeks: “Just the intensity of when we’re on, we are really on.”
Past Teams of the Month, 2017-18
March: Brighton hockey - Report
February: Marquette girls and boys skiing - Report
January: Sterling Heights Stevenson competitive cheer - Report
December: Cadillac boys bowling - Report
November: Ottawa Lake Whiteford football - Report
October: Beaverton volleyball - Report
September: Shepherd girls golf - Report
PHOTOS: (Top) DCC’s Connor Beals works to gain possession of a face-off against Brother Rice last month. (Middle) Shamrocks’ coach Dave Wilson is recognized as part of the 2018 MHSLCA Hall of Fame class. (Photos courtesy of the DCC boys lacrosse program.)
Seniors Lead Forest Hills Central Back to #1
June 8, 2019
By Jeff Bleiler
Special for Second Half
HOWELL – The Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central boys lacrosse seniors played in the Division 2 championship game all four years of their high school careers.
Safe to say, Saturday’s capper was tops.
Senior Tate Hallock scored five goals and assisted on four others, and fellow senior Luke Majick added five goals and three assists as the Rangers overwhelmed a young Ada Forest Hills Eastern squad 20-4 on Saturday at Parker Field in Howell.
The championship was the fourth in program history, joining one in 2016 when this year’s seniors were freshmen. The past two years, the Rangers fell short to East Grand Rapids – by two goals two years ago and by one in double overtime last year.
“It feels amazing,” Hallock said. “Obviously, sophomore and junior year we didn’t get it, and freshman year we got it but I wasn’t able to play. So just taking it all in, and it’s amazing that I finally played, got some goals and was able to contribute.”
The Rangers finished the year 22-1, their lone loss to Division 1 champion Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice. The Hawks went 16-7 in their first season under coach Zack Grusell, who served as an offensive coordinator for Central in 2015.
“It’s amazing,” Central coach Andy Shira said. “These guys, especially this group of seniors, I’ve been coaching since they were 11 years old. So to see them go out this way is truly special. It’s sad to see it end, but it’s ending in the best way possible for them.”
In six MHSAA Tournament games, Central held each opponent to five goals or fewer and never scored fewer than 17 goals.
“Our senior class has been here four years,” Hallock said. “Eastern is a great team, they’re young, they’ll be here the next couple years too against us probably. But yeah, we’ve been a powerhouse with our senior class.”
After a first quarter that saw both teams kind of feel each other out – despite being familiar with one another after a 17-4 Central victory over Eastern in April – the Rangers opened the scoring gates in the second quarter and never looked back. Sophomore Carson Deines and Hallock both scored in the opening quarter to give Central a 2-0 lead that grew to seven by the 4:28 mark of the second quarter. Majick scored goals 13 seconds apart in the second, and his third of the quarter put Central ahead 7-0.
Sam Bowen and Kaden Dietrich – two of eight sophomores in the Eastern starting lineup – put the Hawks on the board in the second quarter, which ended with Central going ahead 9-2 on a Hallock goal with 19 seconds to play.
Central outscored Eastern 11-2 in the second half, with a running clock for much of the fourth quarter. Senior Evan Matej finished with four goals and an assist, Deines had three goals and two assists, junior Jackson Clay had two goals and two assists and junior Hayden Sarjeant scored a goal for the Rangers.
The 16-goal margin of victory was the widest in a Division 2 Finals game, with the previous high being eight.
It didn’t help matters that Eastern was without sophomore John Morgan, who had a 120-point season end when he broke his foot in a Semifinal victory over East Grand Rapids. But Grusell wasn’t about to use that as an excuse.
“It’s been an awesome season,” he said. “We’re a young team, and it’s been phenomenal to see these guys get to where they are. We scheduled some of the toughest teams in the state of Michigan this year, and they kind of got punched in the mouth earlier this year and had to do a bit of growing up.
“I can’t give a big enough shout-out to seniors Patterson Alward, Brandon Pham, Isaac Wittlinger and all of our seniors, really. They built this program and got us here. We certainly plan on getting another shot at it, so we’ll try to get back here. It’s been one fun run.”
Bowen finished with two goals for Eastern, and sophomore Kevin Sprague scored the Hawks’ other goal.
Click for the full scoring summary.
PHOTOS: (Top) Forest Hills Central’s Jackson Clay (1) makes a move in front of Forest Hills Eastern’s goal during Saturday’s Division 2 Final. (Middle) Forest Hills Eastern’s David Charron (7) gets physical in the midfield.