Grand Rapids Schools Take Home Two State Lacrosse Titles
Two teams from the Grand Rapids area took home trophies in the MHSAA Lacrosse Tournament, while a third just missed a title. And the area still has six baseball and softball teams still in contention.
Forest Hills Central Won The Boys Division 2 Championship
The Rangers secured their fifth state title with a 11-8 win over Detroit Country Day Saturday in Howell to complete an undefeated season.
Jonah McConnell scored four goals in a hard scrabble defensive tussle. Rangers coach Andy Shira also gave props to junior goalie Crandall Quinn in a game that was a rematch of a regular season tussle between the two state powers, also won by Central, 18-10.
Quinn passed the accolades onto his defensive unit in a post game interview with the MHSAA's Second Half web site.
“I have a great defensive unit,’’ Quinn told Second Half. “They did everything they could to win this game. We came out a little soft at first, and we realized that’s not the game we play. During halftime we had a big speech about it, and we came out and showed who we are.’’
Central was up 7-6 at half, before slowly pulling away in the second half for the win.
Coach Shira agreed with the assessment that defense was the order of the day.
“We came out a little bit slow,’’ Shira told Second Half. “We had some lapses, not moving our feet. We gave them a little too much space to get their hands free and reach back to shoot. It was a good adjustment by our defense coordinator Andrew Clay. Simple things that got us here."
East Grand Rapids Continued Their Domination Of Girls Division 2
The Pioneers won their 8th title in ten years with a nail biting 12-11 three overtime thriller over Country Day at Rockford.
It was senior Lizzie Lundeen who notched the sudden victory goal after two scoreless overtime periods.
“It was overwhelming when it went in. I couldn’t believe it at first,” Lundeen told Second Half. “It was amazing. I was at the very bottom (of a victory pile), crying like a baby.”
“At the end there, once we won the draw, I knew someone had to take charge. Once I popped out and got that pass, I went past my girl and I knew I had an opening so I just ripped a shot and it went in,” Lundeen also told Second Half. “I was trying to make (Yuhn, the CD goalie) think I was going to shoot low, but then it kind of went near her hip side, so lucky it went in.
First year coach Meggan Lloyd won her first state title as a coach at East, where she also won a title as a player.
Forest Hills Northern/Eastern Falters In Girls D1 Final
The combined team from Forest Hills Northern and Eastern fell short in the girls Division 1 championship, losing to Brighton in overtime, by the same 12-11 margin.
Ella Boose put the nail in the BirdDogs heart with the game winner with 1:33 left in the first overtime to give Brighton the win. Brighton trailed much of the game, and one point were down six goals before shifting the momentum in the second half.
Six Area Teams Still Alive In This Week's Baseball And Softball Finals
Forest Hills Northern will face Orchard Lake St. Mary's in the boys baseball semi-finals Friday at MSU's McLane Stadium at 11:30am.
In Division 2 baseball, Grand Rapids Christian faces Grosse Ile in a semi-final at 9:00am Friday, while Forest Hills Eastern will play Goodrich in the other semi-final at 11:30am. Both of those games will be at Michigan State's secondary field.
The softball quarterfinals are scheduled for Tuesday, with Hudsonville still alive in Division 1, facing Fenton at 1:00pm at Northwood University in Midland.
In Division 2 softball, Unity Christian squares off with Escanaba at 4:00pm Tuesday, also at Northwood, while in Division 3, Grandville Calvin Christian plays Parchment at 11:00am Tuesday at Cornerstone University here in Grand Rapids.
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