Irish Celebrate Homecoming Sky High
October 4, 2013
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
You’ve got to see this – from high in the sky – to believe it.
The disappointing news for Pontiac Notre Dame Prep from its Homecoming game last Friday was that the Fighting Irish fell to Detroit Catholic League AA leader Detroit Loyola by seven points.
But the Irish will remember fondly (and probably click on frequently) the video of this sky high view of the game including the team’s entrance to the field.
Thanks to a camera attached to a helicopter-like apparatus flown by local Aerial Imagery Works, Notre Dame was able to capture a rarely-seen view. See more by watching the brief video embedded at the bottom of this post.
SLC-TV Rolls 300
It's fair to assume few television stations in Michigan have been as dedicated to the local football team as South Lyon's SLC-TV, which will celebrate a milestone broadcast Oct. 11 when South Lyon faces South Lyon East.
SLC-TV has followed South Lyon football home and away games for 31 years and will broadcast its 300th game that night. SLC-TV’s games appear on WOW network channel 19 and Comcast Southfield channel 90, which reaches 33 communities in metro Detroit.
Sports director Tedd Wallace will have done play-by-play for 298 of those games, and said he believes no station in America has done TV broadcasts of a team’s home and away games as consistently. Check out more about the network’s weekly work on its Facebook page.
Friendly gesture to opponent in need
One of the most heart-warming parts of following high school sports is experiencing the camaraderie among athletes from opposing teams they likely know nothing about except for what they learn during competition.
Concord’s volleyball team shined especially brightly in this way last week.
Amazingly, Union City junior Marissa Mead played in her team’s match against Concord on Sept. 24 despite her home being destroyed by a fire that morning. As told by the Jackson Citizen-Patriot’s Leanne Smith, Concord’s players had heard about the tragic event and were surprised to then see Mead take her place as defensive specialist that night.
On the bus ride home, the Concord players decided they needed to do something to help Mead and her family. As a team, the players collected $80 – and then pushed the total to $300 with the help of teachers, parents and administrators. They delivered the funds in a card to Mead at Union City’s home match two days later.
It’s a gesture that might seem small, but speaks loudly to the awesome way our athletes relate to each other not just on, but off the court as well. Click to read the entire report.
Official of the Year
Marcy Weston, Central Michigan University’s Executive Associate Director of Athletics/Sports Administration and a longtime contributor to MHSAA officiating initiatives, has been named the Naismith Women’s College Official of the Year.
Weston spoke at the 2001 MHSAA Officials Banquet and has served as part of the association's officials committee and with the National Federation of State High School Associations as a liaison to its Basketball Rules Committee.
She also served as NCAA national coordinator of women’s basketball officiating from 1991-2005 after working as a women’s college basketball official from 1964-84. Click to read more from CMUChippewas.com.
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.