![](/sites/default/files/imported/Photos/170311_D1hockey_2H.jpg)
Brighton Earns Finals Revenge over DCC
March 11, 2017
Second Half reports
PLYMOUTH — Logan Neaton needed time in the midst of a wild championship celebration to process the events of an entire year.
It was 365 days earlier that Neaton and his Brighton hockey teammates were beaten by Detroit Catholic Central, 3-0, in the MHSAA Division 1 championship game.
From the moment the Bulldogs stepped off the ice at USA Hockey Arena that night, everything they did was designed to get back there and write a different ending.
Brighton completed its mission with a 5-2 victory over three-time reigning champion Catholic Central in the season’s final game Saturday night.
Neaton, normally not one to show his emotions during a game, leaned back over the crossbar and looked to the rafters of USA Hockey Arena in the final minute after Jake Crespi’s empty-netter made it apparent the Bulldogs would win their fourth MHSAA title.
When the clock hit zeroes, Neaton wound up in a pile with his teammates, got himself out, jumped against the glass to celebrate with the student section, then went to the faceoff circle and had a moment to himself face down on the ice.
"It's been a year to the day since we lost," said Neaton, who made 31 saves Saturday and allowed only four goals in six postseason games. "You just represent so much more than yourself. You're representing all the boys who came before you, who came so close and couldn't get it done. Everyone in your city, we just had so much support throughout the year. So many people instilled so much in us and put so much of their time and effort in us. To do that for them and do it for the boys last year and everyone who came before us is unbelievable."
Brighton (24-6-1) lost in the 2014 and 2016 Finals to Catholic Central after beating the Shamrocks for the 2013 title.
The Bulldogs also won in 2006 and 2012. Brighton and Catholic Central have crossed paths in four of the last five MHSAA Finals. The Bulldogs beat the Shamrocks twice this season after doing so only once in 11 previous meetings.
"They've always been the benchmark," Brighton coach Paul Moggach said. "They're the team to beat for a lot of years. We've struggled to beat them. This year we beat them twice, which we've never done before. We just keep working hard and trying to be able to compete with them. Now we're on the map, as well."
Brighton stormed out of the gates, jumping to a 2-0 lead in the first 2 minutes and 23 seconds on goals by Keith Wikman and Spencer Gehres.
Junior Adam Conquest, who played for Brighton as a freshman before returning to travel hockey as a sophomore, extended the lead to 3-0 with a shorthanded goal 43 seconds into the second period.
Conquest had a goal and two assists.
“It feels amazing,” Conquest said. “I didn’t play last year, but watching them from up in the stands I regretted not playing. I could have helped them out. This year, I joined. It’s an unreal experience beating C.C.”
The Shamrocks (22-8-1) made a game of it, as Brendan West scored twice in the second period to cut the margin to 3-2 heading into the third.
“We felt like if we got the second (goal), we had a lot of faith that we were going to get the third,” Catholic Central coach Brandon Kaleniecki said. “You have to keep them off the boards. When they got their fourth, that was a killer blow for us.”
Gehres gave Brighton some insurance when he deflected in a shot by Conquest with 11:44 left in the game. An empty-netter by Crespi with 1:08 remaining left no doubt that this was Brighton’s year.
There was some doubt just a couple weeks earlier as to whether or not the Bulldogs would be celebrating with the championship trophy. Brighton went 1-4-1 in its last six regular-season games, but was missing players.
"You need adversity to understand where you're at and get you pumped up a little bit more," Moggach said. "They reacted well. We had some injuries and illness in there, too. Not for excuses, but we all realized we had the makings of a good team."
It was only the fifth time in 18 trips to the MHSAA Finals that Catholic Central took home the runner-up trophy.
“We’re just incredibly proud as a coaching staff of how they competed to the very end,” Kaleniecki said.
PHOTOS: (Top) Brighton goalie Logan Neaton stops a Detroit Catholic Central shot Saturday evening. (Middle) Spencer Gehres dumps in a Brighton goal during the Division 1 Final. (Click to see more at HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
![](/sites/default/files/imported/Photos/130309_BHCK_2H.jpg)
Cranes Land 16th MHSAA Finals Win
March 9, 2013
By Bill Khan
Special to Second Half
PLYMOUTH — Sometimes it seems like a given that a hockey player at Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood will win at least one MHSAA championship during his career.
When a program has won nine titles in the last 17 seasons and 16 in the last 35, championships are an expectation for the Cranes.
But it's not always as easy as it may look to outsiders.
Alex Alger took the ice for the final game of his brilliant three-year career with Cranbrook-Kingswood still searching for his first MHSAA championship. He made sure he wouldn't leave the program empty-handed, scoring back-to-back second-period goals in the Cranes' 4-2 victory over Sault Ste. Marie in the Division 3 Final on Saturday at Compuware Arena.
Alger wasn't on the team his freshman year when the Cranes won their last title in 2010. He experienced a 3-1 semifinal loss to Grand Rapids Catholic Central as a sophomore and a 2-1 overtime loss in the regional final to unheralded Marysville as a junior when he made second-team all-state.
"I felt like if we didn't go out on top — you can't say it was a failure, necessarily — but it's just we're always expected to do so well," Alger said. "For me to go three years without a title, I just wouldn't feel comfortable with myself, knowing that with such a strong team we couldn't pull together and make it happen."
Alger not only went out as a champion, but was a standout on a team that is arguably one of the greatest in Cranbrook-Kingswood's rich history.
The Cranes set a school record for victories, finishing 28-2-1. Ten of Cranbrook-Kingswood's previous 15 championship teams lost at least seven games. Only the 1982-83 team (24-2-1) had as few losses, while only the 2006-07 squad (25-4-1) may challenge this one as the greatest in coach Andy Weidenbach's 20-year tenure.
"If it isn't (the best), it's pretty close," Weidenbach said. "I've had two very special teams with really highly skilled players. This is definitely one of our most highly skilled teams."
Sault Ste. Marie gave the Cranes their closest game of the postseason, getting outshot 38-10 in the process. Cranbrook-Kingswood outscored six playoff opponents by a combined score of 47-4.
"At the end of the day, you've got the two best teams in the state here," Sault Ste. Marie coach John Ferroni said. "I've seen most of the D3 teams in the state this year. I feel we're the next-best team.
They're obviously the best team in the state. To be honest with you, I think they're better than Division 2. They obviously can play with the Division 1 teams. They're a wonderful-looking hockey team, just so
poised and mature out there with the puck."
A goal by Austin Alger at 8:11 of the first period and Kevin Shand at 7:23 of the second gave the Cranes a 2-0 lead. Sault Ste. Marie got back in the game at 8:51 of the second on a goal by Alex Teneyck, but
Alex Alger quickly turned the momentum back in Cranbrook-Kingswood's favor with goals at 10:10 and 11:26 to make it a 4-1 game.
Sault Ste. Marie (22-9) added the only goal of the third period when Chase Gamelin scored with 11:26 remaining, but it was the only shot on goal by the Blue Devils during the entire period.
"We had our spurts in the game, but just not enough of them to create offense," Ferroni said. "When you get it close like that, you think maybe we'll get lucky with another shot and score a goal and put some pressure on them, even though the shots on goal were a vast difference. I knew we were going to give up between 30-35 shots. I thought if we could keep the penalties down, that would keep the shots
on goal down. That didn't happen too well for us."
Cranbrook-Kingswood was 1-for-7 on the power play, while Sault Ste. Marie was 0-for-2.
The Cranes have a 16-2 record in MHSAA finals, emerging victorious in their last eight appearances.
PHOTOS: (Top) Cranbrook-Kingswood senior Billy Young (19) charges up ice during Saturday's Division 3 Final at Compuware Arena. (Middle) The Cranes celebrate their first championship since 2010. (Photos by Andrew Knapik.)