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Preview: League Rematches Reloaded
June 10, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
No. 1 will take on No. 2 in both MHSAA Boys Lacrosse Finals on Saturday at Howell’s Parker Middle School.
It just so happens that both championship games will pit opponents who already have faced each other twice this season with league titles on the line.
Brother Rice downed Detroit Catholic Central 11-5 and 14-7 in Detroit Catholic League A play, and they’ll face off once more in the Division 1 Final at 4:30 p.m. Starting the day at 2 p.m. in Division 2 will be Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central and East Grand Rapids, with the Rangers looking to add a third win to their 15-9 and 14-13 victories in Ottawa-Kent Conference Tier I play this spring.
Both Finals will be broadcast on MHSAA.tv, available with subscription, with audio available on MHSAANetwork.com. Click for more information, including all tournament results.
Below is a look at all four contenders, with player statistics through Regional Finals.
Division 1
BIRMINGHAM BROTHER RICE
Record/rank: 19-2, No. 1 at end of regular-season
League finish: First in Detroit Catholic High School League A
Coach: Ajay Chawla, third season (57-10)
Championship history: 11 MHSAA championships (most recent 2015).
Best wins: 9-6 over No. 6 Clarkston in Regional Final, 16-3 over No. 9 Midland in Regional Semifinal, 11-5 and 14-7 over No. 2 Detroit Catholic Central, 8-3 over No. 3 Detroit Country Day, 13-9 over Division 2 No. 2 East Grand Rapids.
Players to watch: Morgan Macko, sr. A (70 goals, 55 assists); Riley North, sr. A (49 goals, 38 assists); Jack Kelly, jr. M (47 goals, 16 assists).
Outlook: Brother Rice has played through a couple closer games than perhaps usual this spring – but is again the heavy favorite as it seeks to continue its sweep of every Division 1 title since the tournament was started more than a decade ago. The only losses this spring were twice to Indiana powerhouse Culver Military Academy, and the Warriors took on and beat some of the best from Ohio and Illinois as well. Macko is finishing off one of the most productive runs in MHSAA lacrosse history and also starred the last two seasons.
DETROIT CATHOLIC CENTRAL
Record/rank: 17-4, No. 2 at end of regular season
League finish: Second in Detroit Catholic High School League A
Coach: Dave Wilson, 11th season (149-71)
Championship history: Division 1 runner-up five times (most recent 2015).
Best wins: 13-5 over No. 3 Detroit County Day in the Semifinal, 13-5 over No. 7 Brighton, 16-10 over Division 2 No. 2 East Grand Rapids, 17-10 over Division 2 No. 3 Okemos.
Players to watch: Rocco Mularoni, sr. A; Justin Baker, sr. A; Brennan Kamish, jr. M (Statistics not submitted.)
Outlook: DCC will play in its third straight Final trying to break the hold of rival Brother Rice on Division 1. Seven seniors start for a team with plenty of big-game experience; midfielder Alex Jarzembowski is another veteran standout among many. Similar to Brother Rice, DCC also played strong programs from other states and Ontario. The Shamrocks have shown the ability to lock down top teams; they held opponents to fewer than 10 goals in all but six games and have given up only 11 goals total over four postseason games.
Division 2
EAST GRAND RAPIDS
Record/rank: 15-5, No. 2 at end of regular season
League finish: Second in O-K Conference Tier 1
Coach: Rick DeBlasio, fourth season (first of second tenure; 48-13 overall)
Championship history: Three MHSAA titles (most recent 2009), three runner-up finishes.
Best wins: 16-15 (2OT) over No. 3 Okemos in the Semifinal, 9-3 and 9-3 (Regional Final) over No. 4 Ada Forest Hills Eastern, 8-6 over No. 5 Pontiac Notre Dame Prep, 6-4 and 9-7 over Division 1 No. 5 Rockford, 15-5 over Division 1 No. 3 Detroit Country Day, 16-5 over Division 1 No. 10 Ann Arbor Pioneer.
Players to watch: Hub Hejna, jr. A (67 goals, 30 assists); Matt Solberg, sr. A (43 goals, 49 assists); Ben Keller, jr. A (46 goals, 15 assists).
Outlook: East Grand Rapids will play in its first championship game since finishing runner-up in 2011, and has taken on plenty of strong teams to prepare. The losses came to Brother Rice, Detroit Catholic Central, twice to Forest Hills Central and to Okemos in the season opener – and the Pioneers avenged that loss Wednesday. Those four teams are the only ones to score more than seven goals on the Pioneers this season. DeBlasio formerly coached the team from 2002-04.
GRAND RAPIDS FOREST HILLS CENTRAL
Record/rank: 19-2, No. 1 at end of regular season
League finish: First in Ottawa-Kent Conference Tier 1
Coach: Jake Seiler, second season (36-5)
Championship history: Two MHSAA titles (most recent 2012), two runner-up finishes.
Best wins: 15-9 and 14-13 over No. 2 East Grand Rapids, 17-8 over No. 3 Okemos, 20-8 over Division 1 No. 5 Rockford.
Players to watch: Bryce Clay, soph. D (95 goals, 53 assists); Tanner Hallock, jr. A (51 goals, 34 assists); Max Kuiper, sr. A (38 goals, 28 assists).
Outlook: Second-year coach Seiler has Forest Hills Central back in a Final for the first time since finishing runner-up in 2013 and after having lost this season only to Country Day in double overtime and Culver. Although Clay is the most productive scorer, there’s lots of balance with six Rangers tallying at least 20 goals heading into the week – and plenty of help in goal as senior Kadin Schermers and freshman Jack Nolan have combined to give up six goals per game this spring.
PHOTO: Brother Rice's Cole Hyde moves the ball upfield during last season's Division 1 Final against Detroit Catholic Central.
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Technicians Pioneering PSL Lacrosse
By
Tom Markowski
Special for Second Half
May 16, 2019
DETROIT – Liam McIlroy never thought of himself as a trailblazer in the sport of lacrosse. Though he played lacrosse in high school at Grosse Pointe South, earning all-state honors as a junior, McIlroy also played football for the Blue Devils and, later, in college at Denison University in Ohio.
Yet McIlroy and his lacrosse team broke barriers this spring at a school known statewide for its prowess in football and basketball.
McIlroy, 24, is the first head coach of a lacrosse program in the Detroit Public School League. Detroit Cass Tech is one of the top academic institutions in the Detroit Public Schools, and school administrators took a chance – and what many see as a leap forward – by sponsoring a varsity boys lacrosse team this year.
Detroit U-D Jesuit, a member of the Detroit Catholic League, is the only other school within the city limits that has a boys lacrosse program.
Athletic standards are significant at Cass Tech. The football program won MHSAA Division 1 titles in 2011, 2012 and 2016, and lost in the Final in 2015. The boys basketball program, most recently, won PSL titles in 2017 and this past season.
“I’m loving it,” McIlroy said. “It’s a grind. You have to remind yourself that it’s more than a game. We’re excited lacrosse is an option (at Cass Tech).
“Our goal, initially, was to find our identity, as the first team in Cass Tech history. Our slogan before the season was ‘day by day.’ (The players) realize they weren’t going to be the best team in the state.
“There are high expectations here. Football is huge at this school. The slogan for the football players here is ‘second to none.’ It’s a great institution. There’s no free pass at Cass Tech (academically). There’s a lot of work to be put in. In lacrosse there’s a lot of work to be put in. To me, it’s about work ethic. It’s a sport that has adopted a suburban culture. For the most part, people are excited to have a team. We’ve received support from the community and from the other teams we’ve played. Some have offered us equipment, advice and generally just anything they can do to help.”
McIlroy has 25 players in the program, 20 who play regularly. There’s one senior, eight juniors and four who have played football including two freshmen and a sophomore.
The learning curve has been steep. Though some have competed in youth leagues, most notably Detroit Youth Lacrosse – which supports three age groups: third and fourth grades, fifth and sixth grades and seventh and eighth grades. It has a website (www.detroitlacrosse.org) but, like Cass Tech’s program, is in its infancy. This is just its second season, and McIlroy is one of its co-founders.
It is his association with this youth league that steered McIlroy to Cass Tech.
“I’ve done personal training and coached youth leagues, but this is my first year as (a) head coach,” McIlroy said. “I try to use other sports as a reference, football and others. I’ve kind of honed my style. I played hockey when I was younger, and football (provided) a better opportunity for me to play in college. I’ve always had a special place in my heart for lacrosse.”
Perhaps the program at Cass Tech is simply a natural progression from what McIlroy helped to start with Detroit Youth Lacrosse. Parents began showing interest in having a team at the high school level and inquired of both McIlroy and Cass Tech’s administrators.
Steve Hall is the varsity boys basketball coach at Cass Tech and shares the athletic director duties with Thomas Wilcher, Cass Tech’s varsity football coach. Answering those inquiries, Hall and others acted. Rather quickly, a team was formed. To Hall and other administrators, the questions they asked themselves were, “Why not? Why can’t lacrosse become a part of the Cass Tech community?”
“In my position, you try to accommodate the interests of more kids,” Hall said. “With lacrosse, we’re able to provide another sport, another avenue. We’re providing kids another vehicle.
“It broadens our horizons. It’s another opportunity. We’ve had some games with some great programs and there are some suburban schools who have B teams and, when there’s the opportunity, we can play those teams.
“We’re in our infancy. I will stand on the sideline, we played (Madison Heights) Bishop Foley one game and it was like, ‘Wow! I’m at a Cass Tech lacrosse game. This is great.’ It’s great that we can be pioneers in the PSL. The bottom line is, we can possibly enhance the high school experience. I’ve seen a percentage of students who have been impacted positively by this. It can only open their minds.”
Aaron Stunson is not unlike many of McIlroy’s lacrosse players. Stunson played lacrosse with friends in pickup games but never competitively before this season. He worked his way into the starting lineup, first as a goal keeper and now as a midfielder, and was named captain.
Stunson played soccer as a freshman, but his interest in the sport waned and he’s thankful this opportunity arose.
“I always liked the sport,” he said. “I was curious how I would fare on a competitive team.
“It’s cool. It’s fun. But it’s hard, too. A lot of us … this is our first time competing. At least 10 of us, this is our first time playing. We’re learning day by day.”
Cass Tech is 2-8 heading into the MHSAA Tournament, and Stunson and McIlroy agree they have seen improvement. Stunson singled out games with Grosse Pointe South as examples. South dominated the first winning 14-1 and also won the second, 12-1, but Stunson said his team was better prepared the second time around.
“The people in the crowd said we’d played much better,” he said. “My parents and other people told me that.”
Baby steps, certainly, but positive steps are being made. McIlroy said the Technicians’ first victory, 9-5 over St. Clair Shores Lake Shore, did much for his team’s self-assurance.
“They believed they had a place in the sport,” he said. “Building upon little victories helps with confidence. Our next challenge is if we can stay competitive and win games we’re not expected to win.”
On that note, Cass Tech’s next game is Friday at Birmingham Brother Rice in a Division 1 Regional opener. Brother Rice is the standard-bearer in the sport having won the first 13 Division 1 titles before losing to Detroit Catholic Central in last season’s championship game, 11-10.
McIlroy said he’s excited about the challenge, and he’s happy that his players are excited.
“We’re going to show what we’re made of,” Stunson said.
Tom Markowski is a correspondent for the State Champs! Sports Network and previously directed its web coverage. He also covered primarily high school sports for the The Detroit News from 1984-2014, focusing on the Detroit area and contributing to statewide coverage of football and basketball. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Detroit Cass Tech lacrosse players work out during a practice this season. (Middle) With the city's skyline overlooking them, the Technicians train during their first season as a program. (Photos courtesy of the Detroit Cass Tech boys lacrosse program.)