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.
East Grand Rapids Scores Repeat in OT
June 9, 2018
By Jason Schmitt
Special for Second Half
HOWELL – Defense is the specialty of East Grand Rapids boys lacrosse coach Rick DeBlasio.
But even the veteran coach had to be impressed with the offensive exploits of his high scoring tandem of seniors Eric Solberg and Chris Owens.
Solberg tied an MHSAA championship game record with six goals and Owens netted the game-winner as the Pioneers won their second straight Division 2 title with an 11-10, double-overtime victory over Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central on Saturday at Parker Middle School in Howell.
“When he gets his hands free and sweeps, and if you give him a half a step, it’s over,” said DeBlasio, talking of Owens, the team’s leading scorer this season. “For him to get the game-winning goal, it was really special. It’s something the whole team celebrates.”
The game-winner, which came with 2:04 left in the second overtime, may have caught the Rangers by surprise – and some of Owens’ teammates as well.
“We had decided to settle it down, maybe get on offense, but I saw an opening and I just took a shot,” said Owens, taking in the moment just minutes after being swarmed by his teammates on the north end of the field. “It’s crazy, all these people watching. It feels really good to finish it off.”
It seemed like neither team would be able to finish things off. East Grand Rapids looked like it was going to close out the game in regulation, only to see Forest Hills Central tie it up at 10-10 on a goal by junior Luke Majick with 33 seconds remaining.
“To get back to this game, after what happened last year, has really been a driving motivator for us this year,” Rangers coach Andy Shira said. “Obviously our guys didn’t want to lose (the game). Especially against East Grand Rapids, we’re not going to go down without a fight.”
That was evident throughout the game.
Forest Hills Central kicked off the scoring less than five minutes in, with senior Tobey Hendricks scoring off a pass from Majick. But East Grand Rapids would answer, with Solberg scoring a pair of goals to cap off a low-scoring first quarter.
Forest Hills Central and East Grand Rapids then went on a scoring binge, combining to tally seven goals in just less than four minutes, the last three scored by the Pioneers. Solberg had three of them, Owens had the other, giving their team a 6-4 lead at halftime.
Though the Pioneers continued to maintain a lead into the fourth quarter, Forest Hills Central would not go away. On three occasions, the Rangers tied the game up. Junior Tate Hallock scored two of those tying goals, with Majick scoring the other.
Solberg’s six goals tied a championship game record held by three Birmingham Brother Rice players (Morgan Macko, Jason Alessi and Devin Peurach). He’s a converted midfielder, something his coach said has worked in favor of the Pioneers.
“We were hoping his dodging would free him up, but we went through a period where offensively we weren’t getting the kind of production we wanted and I moved him to attack,” DeBlasio said. “Since I moved him to attack, he’s averaged four to six goals a game. He’s a pretty special kid.”
Junior Jack DelVecchio and senior Drew Poortenga also scored goals in the Pioneers’ victory.
Hallock finished with four for Forest Hills Central (18-2), while Majick and senior Patrick English each had two. Seniors Hendricks and Bryce Clay each added one goal for the Rangers, who entered the postseason as the top-ranked team in Division 2.
It was the third straight year the two schools played for the Division 2 title, with the Pioneers winning last year and the Rangers picking up the 2016 title. Central had defeated East Grand Rapids, 14-7, earlier this season.
“They executed a little bit more (today),” Shira said. “Everything they did today, we’ve seen on film. We just didn’t execute as much as them. We had our chances, but they’re an excellent team, very well coached.”
The championship was the fifth for East Grand Rapids (19-4), which also won titles from 2007-09 and again last year.
Click for the full scoring summary.
VIDEO: East Grand Rapids’ Chris Owens scores the game-winner in overtime.
PHOTOS: (Top) East Grand Rapids celebrates its Division 2 championship game win. (Middle) EGR and Forest Hills Central players battle for possession.