Former MHSAA Coach Lands in NHL
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
April 5, 2013
This week in the year 2000, Jon Cooper had just finished his first season coaching at any level, having guided the Lansing Catholic hockey team to its first Regional championship in 25 seasons.
It would be the only season Cooper – a local lawyer and former player at Hofstra – would coach the Cougars. But it also was the start of a nearly unimaginable rise that saw him hired to coach the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning two weeks ago.
As the saying goes, it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. Cooper always was friendly and helpful to this then just-starting local media member, and despite his lone season coaching the Cougars quickly built a local fan base that continues to cheer him on from afar.
An NHL.com piece last week led with the high school angle. Click here to check it out. He took over a team 16-18-2 and near the bottom of the Eastern Conference, but Cooper surely will have plenty rooting him on from the MHSAA hockey ranks as he works to bring the franchise back to the playoffs – and we’ll work to catch up with him this summer during his first NHL offseason.
Grand Haven athletics 'Exemplary'
The Grand Haven High School athletic department received this year’s Exemplary Athletic Program Award from the Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association during its annual conference last month in Traverse City.
The program was established in 1998 to recognize outstanding athletic programs and give high school administrators a vehicle by which to self-assess their practices and measure improvements.
Characteristics of “exemplary” programs include district-wide commitment, excellence in advancing the growth of well-rounded participants and serving the needs of all involved including parents and staff, and sustained success in teaching the values of high school athletics.
Click for more details on award criteria and a list of previous winners, and additional coverage by Grand Rapids’ WZZM.
Volleyball teams 'dug' deep
Michigan high school volleyball teams playing "Dig Pink" matches combined to raise more than $50,500 for cancer research last fall to rank sixth nationally, according to the Side-Out Foundation, a non-profit organization that heads up the “Dig Pink” initiative.
Class D Engadine raised the most among MHSAA schools – $5,200 – with Kent City, Bronson, Grand Ledge, Allendale, Stevensville Lakeshore, Monroe, Waterford Mott, Coldwater and Grand Blanc also contributing to the grand total. Also, Grand Ledge’s Katie Everts received a Side-Out Ambassador Program award, one of 10 handed out to individuals nationally.
Total, more than $1.1 million was raised nationwide.
Name that trophy
Few if any schools in Michigan have done more work in researching and identifying the trophies in its case than Orchard Lake St. Mary’s, which will celebrate its 100th season of boys basketball in 2013-14.
It's rare the Eaglets historians can’t determine what a trophy celebrated. In this case, hopefully you can help.
We believe it’s a basketball trophy from the 1930s – but haven’t been able to pin down a season or a level of the MHSAA tournament. A few things that make this one unique are the plaque presentation, as opposed to a standard trophy, and the large MHSAA seal in the center. Any ideas? Email me at [email protected].
Giving back to those who gave
Those from the U.S. 23/I-94 area surely remember the tornado that tore through Dexter a little more than a year ago, on March 15, 2012.
Dexter track coaches Bob and Katie Jazwinski are remembering those who helped them rebuild after their home was destroyed by the storm.
In a Second Half report last year, Bob Jazwinski said he’d seen athletes and coaches from Adrian, Ann Arbor Pioneer, Pinckney, Chelsea, Ann Arbor Skyline, Whitmore Lake and the USA junior hockey team among the many who flocked to the community to lend a hand in the cleanup.
The Jazwinskis began repaying the favor three weeks ago on the storm's one-year anniversary with the Dexter F 3.1 Tornado Run/Walk that benefited non-profit organizations that had donated for storm recovery the year before.
Click to read the March 30, 2012 story about Adrian athletes’ contributions to the clean-up.
Last call for basketball
We got off to a late start on entering basketball schedules for this winter – but thanks to some incredibly helpful school, official and fan inputters, we were able to catch up quickly and finish with a nearly-complete list of results and standings for this season.
Still, there are some schools with incomplete schedules or a few scores missing. And before everyone forgets completely about this season, we’re hoping for a little help in finishing this enormous task.
Please check out your team’s page on MHSAA.com and help us fill in missing scores and fix inaccuracies. The latter could include just about anything – an incorrect game date, incorrect opponent or score, team missing from league standings, etc. For corrections, please email me directly at [email protected]. (Note: If a game was cancelled, don’t just delete it – contact me and I’ll add “cancelled” to avoid confusion.)
Why is this important? Two big reasons. First, MHSAA.com publishes the most complete statewide scoreboard with results from every corner of Michigan. And we have the most complete archive of basketball seasons available, currently dating to 2009-10. Help us fill in the blanks, and they’ll be saved for everyone’s benefit for years to come.
I thank you in advance for any help you are able to provide.
PHOTOS: (Top) Jon Cooper's bio appeared in the Lansing Catholic hockey team's yearbook for the 1999-2000 season. (Middle) Grand Haven athletic director Robin Bye (second from right) poses with Gull Lake athletic director and MIAAA Exemplary Committee co-char Marc Troop, Grand Haven athletic secretary Rita Way and Ann Arbor Greenhills athletic director and MIAAA Exemplary Committee co-chair Meg Seng after the Buccaneers received this year's award. (Bottom) Orchard Lake St. Mary's is hoping to identify the championship recognized by this trophy, believed to be from the 1930s.
Brother Rice Returns to Division 1 Final, Earns Familiar Title with OT Win
By
Drew Ellis
Special for MHSAA.com
June 6, 2025
ANN ARBOR – Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice won its 17th MHSAA Division 1 boys lacrosse championship Friday, but the 17th may be the sweetest one yet for the Warriors.
Facing off with its Catholic League rival Detroit Catholic Central for the 11th time in a MHSAA Finals game, Rice overcame an early 3-0 deficit to defeat the Shamrocks 9-8 in overtime.
“Somebody asked me this morning what I could write a TED Talk about – how about the heart of a team?” Brother Rice coach Ajay Chawla said. “We had it (Friday). They went down early, fought back. They never stopped fighting, and that’s been this team all year. … They wanted it really bad.”
Friday’s championship will stand out from the Warriors’ prestigious history after they missed appearing in the Division 1 Final in 2024, the first time they didn’t reach an MHSAA championship game in program history. During this regular season, Catholic Central also handed Brother Rice a pair of one-goal losses. All of that just motivated the Warriors more to pull out the victory at University of Michigan.
“Let me make this clear: The expectation is still there at Brother Rice,” Chawla said of winning Finals championships. “These guys felt it and when they came here, they had that expectation. They shouldered that just as heavy as any other team that has shouldered it. They had to shoulder it a little more because we didn’t even get here last year. We’re back where we want to be, where we should be, which is on top.”
The Warriors (19-5) won the opening faceoff of overtime and moved toward the Catholic Central goal. Sophomore defenseman Ben Waechter fired off a shot for the game-winner just 12 seconds into the additional period.
Upon scoring the championship goal, Waechter ran all around the field as his teammates attempted to swarm him to celebrate. It was the lone goal for the sophomore in the contest.
“It’s so surreal. It’s an unreal moment,” Waechter said of netting the game-winner in overtime. “I was cold all game, but I saw my opportunity, and I let it rip. No hesitation.”
After trailing 3-0 during the first half, Brother Rice wouldn’t trail in the second, but the game would be tied on three occasions over the final two periods.
The final tie came with 8:41 to play when Catholic Central senior Luke Zajdel intercepted a save attempt at the net and scored on a putback to make it 8-8.
Both teams would have scoring opportunities over the final stretch, but Catholic Central goalie Matthew Cranston and Brother Rice goalie Payton Fortino kept the ball out of the net. Both would finish the game with 12 saves.
The Shamrocks (23-1) got out to a strong start with that 3-0 lead after one quarter of play. Catholic Central’s defense set the tone, creating a lot of ground balls to allow the offense to control possession for most of the period.
Senior Lachlan Moffatt netted the first goal for CC, while Zajdel and Ben Papke followed for the three-goal advantage.
Needing to respond, Brother Rice adjusted its offensive approach and started peppering the right side of the net during the second quarter.
That strategy succeeded, as the Warriors posted three goals over a 1:20 stretch of play. Junior Frank Baiardi got the first two goals, while senior Hansen Polonkey followed with a low runner that found the net to tie the score at 3-3.
Catholic Central didn’t surrender the lead until the closing seconds of the first half. Trailing 5-4, the Warriors got a two-man advantage during the closing minute. That led to a Jayden Fortino goal to tie the game at 5-5 with 40 seconds left before the break.
Polonkey then gave the Warriors their first lead of the game with just two seconds on the clock as he scored on a wrap-around shot to put Brother Rice ahead 6-5 at halftime.
“Everyone just dug deep and showed a lot of heart,” Polonkey said of the second-quarter comeback. “We were all playing for the seniors and everything they have given to get back to a state championship. Deep down, we knew we just wanted it.”
Frank Baiardi led Brother Rice with three goals, Polonkey had two, and Joe Lee had a goal and an assist. Zajdel had three goals and an assist to lead Catholic Central, while Moffatt and Papke each finished with two.
PHOTOS (Top) Brother Rice’s Ben Waechter (30) winds up for what will be the game-winning shot of Friday’s Division 1 Final. (Middle) Waechter and a Detroit Catholic Central player contend for a loose ball.