Preview: Leagues of Champions, Part II

Boys Lacrosse

June 9, 2017

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Familiarity is the name of the games to be played Saturday at Howell’s Parker Middle School.

For the second straight season, both MHSAA Boys Lacrosse Finals will feature rematches of league rivals.

Detroit Catholic League rivals Birmingham Brother Rice and Detroit Catholic Central will face off at 2 p.m. in the Division 1 championship game for the third straight season. Ottawa-Kent Conference foes East Grand Rapids and Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central will play at 4:30 p.m. for the Division 2 title for the second straight year and after facing off twice already 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: 19-4, No. 1 at end of regular-season
League finish: First in Detroit Catholic High School League A
Coach: Ajay Chawla, fourth season (74-14)
Championship history: 12 MHSAA championships (most recent 2016).
Best wins: 8-6 over No. 4 Rockford in a Semifinal, 15-14 and 15-10 over No. 2 Detroit Catholic Central, 17-1 and 25-6 over Division 2 No. 6 Orchard Lake St. Mary’s, 17-1 over Division 2 No. 3 Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood, 14-7 over Division 2 No. 5 Warren DeLaSalle, 15-5 over Division 2 No. 4 Detroit Country Day, 14-9 over Division 2 No. 2 Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central, 10-9 over Victor, N.Y.
Players to watch: Erik Schmidt, sr. A (27 goals, 12 assists); Daniel Reaume, sr. M (38 goals, 22 assists); Jack Kelly, sr. M (70 goals, 25 assists); Nick Dudley, sr. A (44 goals, 11 assists).
Outlook: Brother Rice continues to be the only Division 1 champion in the history of boys lacrosse as an MHSAA-sponsored sport. But it’s had to survive a few close calls this spring and will need to be at its best in this next rematch with DCC. All four losses were to out-of-state teams, but the win over Victor was especially significant – it broke Victor’s 50-game winning streak, which reportedly was the longest active streak nationally. Schmidt, Reaume, Kelly and senior defenseman Carson Cochran all were all-staters last season.

DETROIT CATHOLIC CENTRAL
Record/rank: 14-5, No. 2 at end of regular season
League finish: Second in Detroit Catholic High School League A
Coach: Dave Wilson, 12th season (164-76)
Championship history: Division 1 runner-up six times (most recent 2016).
Best wins: 12-11 (OT) over No. 3 Hartland in a Semifinal, 14-5 over No. 6 Troy Athens in a Regional Final, 13-10 over No. 5 Northville in a Regional Semifinal, 14-8 over Division 2 No. 6 Orchard Lake St. Mary’s, 16-5 over Division 2 No. 4 Detroit Country Day, 15-9 over Division 2 No. 5 Warren DeLaSalle, 15-10 and 14-11 over Division 2 No. 3 Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood.
Players to watch: Peter Thompson, jr. A; Brennan Kamish, sr. M; Hunter Braun, sr. G. (Statistics not submitted.)
Outlook: DCC will play in its fourth straight Final, again trying to break Brother Rice’s grip on Division 1, but got within one and five goals in their two earlier meetings this season. Braun made the all-state second team last season – Thompson and Kamish made the first team – and DCC has held opponents to single-digit goals in 11 games this spring. Its in-state losses were twice to the Warriors and once to Division 2 top-ranked East Grand Rapids, by two goals early this season.

Division 2

EAST GRAND RAPIDS
Record/rank: 17-1, No. 1 at end of regular season
League finish: First in O-K Conference Tier 1
Coach: Rick DeBlasio, fifth season (69-26)
Championship history: Three MHSAA titles (most recent 2009), four runner-up finishes.
Best wins: 17-7 (Semifinal) and 21-4 over No. 3 Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood, 16-6 over No. 7 Vicksburg in a Regional Semifinal, 15-13 and 16-9 over No. 2 Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central, 13-8 and 16-4 over No. 9 Ada Forest Hills Eastern, 14-8 over No. 5 Detroit Country Day, 17-15 over Division 1 No. 2 Detroit Catholic Central, 16-7 over Division 1 No. 7 Brighton.
Players to watch: Hub Hejna, sr. A (82 goals, 56 assists); Ben Keller, sr. A (48 goals, 22 assists); Luke Elder, sr. A (54 goals, 11 assists); Nick Milanowski, jr G (8.65 goals-against average).
Outlook: The Pioneers are hoping to avenge last season’s 10-6 championship game loss to Forest Hills Central after sweeping their rival during the regular season. A one-goal loss to Division 1 No. 4 Rockford is all that’s kept East Grand Rapids from a perfect run this spring. Hejna, Keller and Milanowski all made the all-state first team last season, and senior mid Joe Bolea (17 goals, 12 assists) made the second team.

GRAND RAPIDS FOREST HILLS CENTRAL
Record/rank: 15-6, No. 2 at end of regular season
League finish: Second in Ottawa-Kent Conference Tier 1
Coach: Patrick Clay, first season (15-6)
Championship history: Three MHSAA titles (most recent 2016), two runner-up finishes.
Best wins: 11-10 OT (Semifinal) and 16-6 over No. 5 Detroit Country Day, 18-7 over No. 9 Ada Forest Hills Eastern, 21-8 over No. 3 Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood, 17-10 and 13-10 over Division 1 No. 4 Rockford, 19-12 over Division 1 No. 5 Northville.
Players to watch: Bryce Clay, jr. A (93 goals, 61 assists); Tanner Hallock, sr. A (41 goals, 44 assists); Drew Bailey, sr. A (45 goals, 25 assists); Nick Carter, sr. D.
Outlook: Patrick Clay took over the program this season and inherited eight returning first-team all-staters: Bryce Clay, Bailey, Clark, senior Tate Bond, junior Patrick English, sophomore Logan Wedder, senior Jake Prinz and senior Jack Uecker. Hallock also was a top scorer on last season’s team – and with all of that talent and experience, the Rangers can’t be overlooked in this Final despite two and seven-goal losses to East Grand Rapids during the regular season.

PHOTO: East Grand Rapids’ Hub Hejna works to elude a Forest Hills Central defender during last season’s Division 2 Final.

Highlight Reel: Boys Lacrosse Regionals

May 27, 2015

By John Johnson
MHSAA communications director

The Haslett/Williamston and Okemos boys lacrosse teams combined for 33 goals in winning Division 2 Regional Semifinals on Tuesday on the Chieftains’ home field.

Both games were produced for MHSAA.tv by School Broadcast Program member Haslett High School – and a collection of highlights from both are below. Click on the headings for each to watch.

Haslett/Williamston 13, DeWitt 11

Lemanski Spins & Scores Haslett/Williamston cut the DeWitt lead to 3-2 on this second-period goal by Grant Lemanski. The Vikings, which dropped its other two meetings to DeWitt this season by a single goal each time, rallied to win Regional Semifinal, 13-11.

Four-Goal Run for Haslett Haslett/Williamston reeled off four unanswered goals in the second quarter. Here's the fourth tally as Tucker Virkus scores off a pass from Grant Lemanski.

Salisbury Scores Off Steal DeWitt cut the Haslett-Williamston lead to 5-4 by halftime after Christopher Salisbury scored after stealing a pass.

Metevier's Second Goal Jack Metevier ties the game for DeWitt in the third quarter with his second goal of the contest.

DeWitt Goes Up By Three After Three In the closing moments of the third quarter Beau Yabs scores for DeWitt, part of a four-goal run that gave the Panthers a 9-6 lead.

Lounds At Point-Blank Range Haslett/Williamston rallied in the fourth period. Here, Eric Lounds scores for the Vikings from close range to cut the DeWitt lead to one.

Lounds For The Lead Eric Lounds scored what proved to be the game-winner for Haslett/Williamston with just under three minutes to play and the Vikings holding a man advantage.

Lounds Again! Eric Lounds caps the scoring for Haslett/Williamston with his third goal, with about 90 seconds left.

Watch the entire game and order DVDs by Clicking Here.

Okemos 20, Portage Northern 4

How Quick? How About 8 Seconds Off the game's opening draw, Okemos' Bennett Sherman gets the Chiefs on the board against Portage Northern.

Northern Gets On The Board Portage Northern gets its first goal from Matty Seiferlein, with the assist going to Chace Quezada.

Sherman Fast Break Goal Okemos goes down the field quickly to get Bennett Sherman his fourth goal of the game midway through the first period.

Northern's Chace Scores Portage Northern cuts the Okemos lead on this nice goal by Chace Quezada.

Stakey Scores For Okemos Anders Stakey gets a ground ball in front of the net and scores for Okemos late in the first period against Portage Northern.

Jamison On Second Try After his first shot was deflected away, Cole Jamison gets another chance and scores for Okemos.

Duren Scores Man Down Playing a man down in the final minute of the half, Okemos scores in transition with Joshua Duren getting the goal.

Give The Goal Scorer A Hug Portage Northern gets a nice goal from Joey Leona in the third quarter against Okemos, and the goal scorer gets a hug from the coach coming back to the bench.

Kalleward Scores Northern's Final Goal Portage Northern got its last goal of the game at the end of a man-up situation, with Camden Kalleward getting the tally.