Veteran Rangers Seek Another Title Shot
April 24, 2018
By Dean Holzwarth
Special for Second Half
GRAND RAPIDS – The Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central boys lacrosse team has experienced the gamut of emotions over the past two seasons.
From the euphoria of winning the MHSAA Division 2 Final in 2016 to the heartache of falling short a year ago – and both times the Rangers had to face their biggest rival with the title on the line.
“They’ve felt both sides of it,” first-year FHC coach Andy Shira said. “The thrill of winning it and the heartbreak of losing it, and both of those are the highest and lowest you can get with it being against our rival, East Grand Rapids.”
The Rangers are determined to relive the magical season of two years ago, and they believe they have just the group to do it.
Spearheaded by seniors Bryce Clay and Patrick English, and the return of 21 players total, FHC has the talent to make another postseason run.
“We have a different chemistry from last year, and we want to win because of what happened last year in the state championship game against our crosstown rival,” said Clay, who already has surpassed 300 goals during a stellar high school career.
“It left a bad taste in our mouth, and we’re motivated to get back. We want to see East again, and we want to go out on a high note and have a successful season.”
The Rangers defeated the Pioneers 10-6 in the 2016 championship game, but were denied back-to-back titles with an 11-9 loss last season.
“It’s a huge motivation, definitely,” English said. “I think that is driving us every day. We got them two years ago, and they came back at us. We really have to step it up this year.”
FHC gained a bit of redemption with a 14-7 victory over EGR last week and currently stand at a perfect 7-0.
Shira, who has been in the program the past five years as the defensive coordinator, has seen early positive signs from his experienced team. But he knows there is room for improvement.
“The way we’ve played so far has been surprising at times,” Shira said. “I knew we would be good, but we’ve shown flashes of greatness with how well we’ve played at times against the competition we’ve played. But we’ve been inconsistent at times. We know we can play at that level, and we just have to be more consistent.”
The Rangers also are bolstered by the return of seniors Andrew Trapp and Kyle Basch, and juniors Tate Hallock, Logan Wedder and Jack Nolan.
“We’re playing really well,” said English, a four-year player who is headed to Marquette University in the fall. “A huge part is team chemistry, and we’ve been getting along and playing good team ball.”
Clay has been the team’s offensive juggernaut since joining the program as a freshman.
He scored a school-record 81 goals with 43 assists in his debut season and eclipsed his own mark the following spring with 104 goals and 53 assists.
Last season he notched 99 goals and a career-high 62 assists.
“I was fortunate enough to make the team my freshman year and had a great year, and from there I kept working hard and wanted to be better than the season before,” Clay said. “I work hard, and I want to be the best player in the state. I’ve had a good run, and it has flown by for sure, but I credit my coaches and teammates for giving me the opportunity to do what I do.”
Clay already has collected 36 goals and 23 assists this season.
“He’s a true competitor,” Shira said. “I never have to question whether or not he is giving me his all and going as hard as he can. On the field, in the classroom and in the weight room, he’s going as hard as he can and it shows in his ability on the field. Not many teams can match up well with him.”
Clay, who has committed to continue playing at the University of Michigan, attributes his success to his older brother, Andrew.
The siblings played together for two seasons. Andrew now plays at Michigan State for the club program that plays as part of the Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association.
“He’s had a big impact on me, and he is why I am the gritty player I am,” Clay said. “For two years I hated him on the field because he was always on me. We would get into fights at practice, and he was the only guy who wanted to defend me and I wanted to go against him.
“We would really get into each other, but it really helped me out with that competitive edge. He was one of the best defenders in the state, and to go against him every day was huge for me. I give him a lot of credit.”
Shira remembers the physicality between the two.
“They would go at each other every day, and there was that brotherly pushing and shoving,” he said. “They were the best players at their positions and it drove them to continue building.”
Clay and English combine to produce a formidable one-two punch.
“Personally, I think we have the best offense in the state,” English said. “We’ve grown up playing with each other, and we push each other to do better. We understand each other’s games, and we play really well together.”
While the Rangers have the potential to reclaim the Division 2 championship, Shira is taking it in stride.
“Our goal every year is to make it there and win, but I don’t think success is us winning a state championship,” Shira said. “There are bigger things outside of lacrosse. Teaching them to be better young men and instilling life skills will still measure the season as a success.”
Dean Holzwarth covered primarily high school sports for the Grand Rapids Press and MLive for 16 years and more recently served as sports editor of the Ionia Sentinel and as a sports photojournalist for WZZM. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Allegan, Kent and Ottawa counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Forest Hills Central's Bryce Clay rolls toward the goal on his way to unloading a shot during last season's Division 2 Final against East Grand Rapids. (Middle) The Rangers' Patrick English passes off to a teammate against the Pioneers.
Legacy Lives On; Rice Extends D1 Reign
June 6, 2015
By Bill Khan
Special for Second Half
TROY — Morgan Macko is being modest when he says there are no superstars on this year's Birmingham Brother Rice lacrosse team.
Anyone who scores 11 goals in two career MHSAA championship games isn't just another good player.
Macko scored five goals and added an assist, as Brother Rice extended one of the most dominant dynasties in MHSAA history with a 16-7 victory over arch rival Detroit Catholic Central in the Division 1 championship game Saturday at Troy Athens.
The Warriors have won all 11 MHSAA Division 1 championships, going 54-0 in postseason play during that time. They are 159-1 against teams from Michigan since 2005, the lone loss being an 8-7 overtime decision at Detroit Country Day on April 16, 2014. Brother Rice, which tests itself regularly against strong opposition from Indiana, Ohio and Ontario, has a 223-27 overall record in those 11 seasons.
"There's a tremendous amount of pressure," Brother Rice coach Ajay Chawla said. "I'd be sitting up here not telling you the truth if I told you they didn't feel it. They feel it. Every year, they don't want to be the guys that let the legacy down. We didn't shy away from talking about it. We didn't treat this like another game. We understood this was a state championship."
And nobody understands how to raise the level of his game with a championship on the line better than Macko.
Last year, Macko tied a Finals record shared by two other Brother Rice stars by scoring six goals in a 23-7 victory over Catholic Central. Like last year, Macko scored all of his goals in the first three quarters, not as stat-stuffers in the final minutes.
Macko's 11 goals in back-to-back finals broke the record of 10 set by Brother Rice's Jason Alessi in 2013 and 2014.
"It's really fun playing on these big stages in front of a pretty big crowd," said Macko, a junior who was brought up to experience the postseason as a freshman. "You feed off each other's energy, and it's a lot of fun out here."
Three of Macko's goals came during a back-and-forth second quarter in which Brother Rice held off a Catholic Central charge. His fifth goal, which opened the second-half scoring and increased Rice's lead to 11-4, was called the biggest goal of the game by his coach.
"He's a big-game player," Chawla said. "He finishes well. He produced for himself, but he also was the recipient of a lot of great dodges by a lot of guys. It's our unselfish plays that allow him to get goals when his guy slides off him and we find him. Overall, it was a great performance by Macko, but you have to credit that whole offense. The score speaks for itself."
Macko finished with a team-high 63 goals this season. He was one of four Warriors to record hat tricks in the game, with Bo Pickens, Riley North and John Lockwood all scoring three goals. It was the second Finals hat trick for Lockwood.
"There are just weapons everywhere," Macko said. "There are no superstars. The defense can't focus on one guy. You have to worry about everyone. There are threats all over the place."
So, even though Macko had six goals against them in last year's Final, the Shamrocks knew they couldn't sell out just to stop him.
"They have so much depth," said Catholic Central junior Rocco Mularoni, who scored five of his team's seven goals. "They play really well as a team. You can't pick out one individual guy to shut down."
Catholic Central (17-5) started strongly enough, opening the scoring on a goal by Mularoni with 9:15 left in the first quarter. Shortly after tying the score 1-1 on a goal by Pickens with 7:20 left in the first, Brother Rice called timeout. The Warriors came out of the timeout on fire, scoring two goals 34 seconds apart to grab a 3-1 lead. Brendan Kennedy and Lockwood scored to extend the lead to 5-1 after one quarter.
The Warriors (19-4) scored three goals in the first 3:39 of the second quarter to build an 8-1 lead.
Just when it appeared a rout was in progress, Catholic Central restored some drama to the game by scoring three times in a 43-second span to make it an 8-4 game with 7:23 left in the second.
The Warriors regrouped with goals by Pickens and Macko in the final 1:30 of the quarter to take a 10-4 lead into halftime.
"I don't think we were very worried," Chawla said. "Our guys had to settle down a bit. We know they play on streaks and emotion. Once our guys settled down, we got those two at the end of the half, which were huge goals for us. That took a bit of the momentum back."
Brother Rice had the only two goals of the third quarter, with Macko scoring with 9:48 left and North with 25.8 seconds to go.
North's third goal increased Brother Rice's advantage to 15-4 with 9:01 left in the fourth quarter, getting the lead within one goal of invoking a running clock. Mularoni ensured that wouldn't happen, scoring two goals 57 seconds apart to make it 15-6 with 6:57 left.
Goals by Pickens of Brother Rice and Zach Crawford of Catholic Central completed the scoring.
Catholic Central has lost to Brother Rice in the Finals five times and in the Semifinals once.
"We seemed to turn it over a lot against Rice," Shamrocks coach Dave Wilson said. "We know when we have the ball we're going to score; at least that's how we do against 99 percent of the other teams in the state of Michigan."
The Warriors' streak of dominance doesn't appear likely to end any time soon. They are set to return seven of their nine starters from the championship game, including Macko.
And there are always players who have yet to wear the Brother Rice uniform waiting in the wings, eager to carry on the tradition.
"If you come in and can play, you can play,” Lockwood said. “We have a lot of younger kids who are going to come up and keep getting better."
PHOTOS: (Top) Brother Rice’s Morgan Macko (13) drives on the net with a Detroit Catholic Central defender working to intercept. (Middle) Detroit Catholic Central’s Chris Clark looks upfield during Saturday’s Final.