Preview: Opportunities to Capitalize

June 7, 2019

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

We entered last season’s Boys Lacrosse Finals with a familiar scenario – both championship games were rematches – and we finished the day with Detroit Catholic Central breaking new ground with its first Division 1 title.

With a Semifinal win earlier this week over reigning Division 2 champ East Grand Rapids, could Ada Forest Hills Eastern become the next to end the spring as a first-time champion?

That’s a possibility in Division 2 on Saturday as the Hawks will make their first Finals appearance as a stand-alone program. Meanwhile, Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice will be looking to take Division 1 back from the Shamrocks, and Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central stands in the way of FHE as it hopes to rise after two straight runner-up finishes.

The Division 1 game leads off this year’s series at 2 p.m. Saturday, followed by the Division 2 game at 4:30. Both Finals at Howell’s Parker Middle School 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 unless noted.

Division 1

BLOOMFIELD HILLS BROTHER RICE
Record/rank: 21-0, No. 1 at end of regular season
League finish: First in Detroit Catholic High School League
Coach: Ajay Chawla, sixth season (106-20) 
Championship history: 13 MHSAA championships (most recent 2017), runner-up 2018. 
Best wins: 18-4 over No. 5 Rockford in Semifinal, 16-12 and 16-5 over No. 2 Detroit Catholic Central, 19-0 over Division 2 No. 2 East Grand Rapids, 16-10 over Division 2 No. 1 Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central.
Players to watch: Justin Glod, sr. A (80 goals, 36 assists); Jordan Hyde, jr. M (50 goals, 34 assists); Patrick O’Hara, sr. M/A (72 goals, 33 assists); Michael Cosgrove, sr. M (25 goals, 38 assists); Jack Crosby, sr. LSM; James Donaldson, sr. D. (Stats through 21 games.)
Outlook: Brother Rice saw its string of 13 straight MHSAA Division 1 championships come to an end in last season’s Final, and the Warriors have responded with a perfect run through this spring. A number of last year’s standouts have led the way – Cosgrove, O’Hara, Donaldson and Crosby made the all-state first team in 2018, and Glod made the second. Seven players have scored at least 23 goals, and those seven also all have at least 23 assists. Only five wins have come by fewer than 10 goals.

DETROIT CATHOLIC CENTRAL
Record/rank: 19-3, No. 2 at end of regular season
League finish: Second in Detroit Catholic High School League
Coach: Dave Wilson, 14th season (203-82) 
Championship history: Division 1 champion 2018, runner-up seven times.
Best wins: 14-13 (OT) over No. 6 Lake Orion in Semifinal, 12-3 over No. 8 Clarkston in Regional Final, 23-10 (Regional Semifinal) and 18-8 over No. 7 South Lyon, 17-9 over No. 5 Rockford, 22-6 over Division 2 No. 3 Ada Forest Hills Eastern, 12-3 over Division 2 No. 2 East Grand Rapids.
Players to watch:
 Joey Kamish, sr. A; Ryan Sullivan, jr. A; Justin Petouhoff, sr. LSM; Kyle Love, sr. M; Connor Beals, sr. M; Jakob Hemme, jr. G; Ryan Birney, sr. M. (Statistics not submitted.)
Outlook: Last season belonged to the Shamrocks, as they finally broke through to defeat Brother Rice both during the regular season and in the championship game. The Warriors won the first meeting this season by 11 but the second by only four goals, and DCC should have plenty of confidence for this final rematch. Kamish, Love and Beals all made the all-state first team last season, while Sullivan, Petouhoff, Hemme and Birney made the second team. The only other defeat this spring came in the regular-season finale to Division 2 top-ranked Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central, by three.

Division 2

ADA FOREST HILLS EASTERN
Record/rank: 
16-6, No. 3 at end of regular season
League finish: Third in O-K Conference Tier 1
Coach: Zack Grusell, first season (16-6)
Championship history: Division 1 runner-up 2011 and 2013 as part of Forest Hills Eastern/Northern. 
Best wins: 9-6 over No. 2 East Grand Rapids in Semifinal, 15-5 over No. 4 Spring Lake, 16-7 over No. 9 Flint Powers Catholic, 9-8 over No. 5 Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern.
Players to watch: Brandon Pham, sr. G (8.4 goals-against average, .500 save percentage); John Morgan, soph. A (69 goals, 34 assists); Sam Bowen, soph. A (43 goals, 28 assists); Kevin Sprague, soph. A (33 goals, 15 assists); Ethan Johns, soph. M (30 goals, 21 assists).
Outlook: Forest Hills Eastern avenged a one-goal regular-season loss to East Grand Rapids to earn a spot in the championship game, and the Hawks have to be excited about Saturday and the future given the relative youth of their leading scorers this spring. Tough losses midseason to Detroit Catholic Central, Rockford, FHC, Hartland and EGR over an eight-game span no doubt helped prepare Forest Hills Eastern for this run, and the Hawks have given up a combined 27 goals over their last seven games. Grusell was one of the state’s all-time leading scorers while starring for Portage Central until graduating in 2011, and he moved up from assistant this season after also spending a season as an assistant at Forest Hills Central.

GRAND RAPIDS FOREST HILLS CENTRAL
Record/rank: 20-1, No. 1 at end of regular season
League finish: First in Ottawa-Kent Conference Tier 1
Coach: Andy Shira, second season (40-3) 
Championship history: Three MHSAA titles (most recent 2016), four runner-up finishes.
Best wins: 20-5 (Semifinal) and 16-2 over No. 6 Orchard Lake St. Mary’s, 17-4 (Regional Final) and 19-2 over No. 5 Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern, 20-8 over No. 7 Detroit Country Day, 17-4 over No. 3 Ada Forest Hills Eastern, 17-5 over No. 2 East Grand Rapids, 12-9 over Division 1 No. 2 Detroit Catholic Central, 16-8 over Division 1 No. 5 Rockford, 14-2 over Division 1 No. 4 Northville, 17-15 over Division 1 No. 3 Hartland, 20-12 over Division 1 No. 10 Saline.
Players to watch: Jackson Clay, jr. A (87 goals, 55 assists); Tate Hallock, sr. M (57 goals, 35 assists); Jack Nolan, sr. G (7.4 goals-against average, .520 save percentage); Luke Majick, sr. M (56 goals, 33 assists); Cam Deines, sr. D; Logan Wedder, sr. FOGO.
Outlook: Forest Hills Central finished runner-up the last two seasons but finds itself the favorite again and despite graduating some serious star power last spring. That’s not to say the Rangers aren’t still loaded – Hallock and Majick were all-state first team last season as was Wedder as a top face-off specialist, and Deines and Nolan made the second team. Joining the scoring leaders this spring has been Clay and also senior attack Evan Metaj (48 goals, 16 assists) and sophomore attack Carson Deines (45 goals, 31 assists). FHC has played nearly all of the best in Michigan, and its only defeat was by six to Brother Rice.

PHOTO: Detroit Catholic Central goalie Jakob Hemme prepares for a Brother Rice shot during last season’s Division 1 Final.

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.)