Simply dominant: Top-ranked Brother Rice rolls over Troy Athens to advance to title game
NO WAY TO STOP: Troy Athens' John Claude Tohme and the Red Hawks' defense could not slow down Birmingham Brother Rice's Henry Nelson and the Warriors' arsenal of offensive weapons in Wednesday's Division 1 state semifinals. Staff Photo | Dan Stickradt
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
NOVI — Rob Ambrose thoroughly believes that Birmingham Brother Rice does not take anything for granted. The Warriors are all business when out on the field.
Brother Rice has not lost in an in-state school in boys lacrosse since 2002 and is one win away from yet another state championship following Wednesday’s 17-4 state semifinal victory over Troy Athens at Novi Detroit Catholic Central.
“We don’t anything for granted at all,” smiled Ambrose, whose program has been one of the most dominant around Michigan in all sports during the past decade-plus. “(That’s why) we’re going after 14 of 16.”
The top-ranked Warriors will face second-ranked Grand Rapids Forest Hills Eastern at 2 p.m. Saturday at Birmingham Seaholm for the state title. The Warriors (17-4-0) are going after their seventh straight MHSAA state title and ninth overall including the old coaches association state tournament and 14th in 16 seasons.
The Warriors are well prepared, playing a brutally-tough non-league schedule against teams from multiple states and Ontario. Brother Rice never trailed in the contest against Athens and when the game was still close in the first 10 minutes, the Warriors never flinched.
“I think we take pride in playing the hardest schedule we can within the MHSAA rules, the 600-mile rule. We play the very best teams we can in Ohio, Canada, Illinois,” added Ambrose.
ALL BOTTLED UP: Troy Athens' Joe Kemp and the Red Hawks stuggled all night with Birmingham Brother Rice's stingy defensive unit that included Liam Timmis (No. 41) and Chris Walker (No. 24). Staff Photo | Dan Stickradt
Like clockwork, Brother Rice scored a goal just 1:07 into the contest of a laser in front of the net by Mackenzie MacEachern and led 3-0 before Athens could even muster a single shot.
The last time these two teams faced, it was at the same level in 2008, with Brother Rice rolling to a 26-3 semifinals rout. The Red Hawks were able to keep the game closer this time, but could not slow the Warriors’ lethal attack.
ON THE RUN: Troy Athens Jake Spinek (No. 5) carries the ball upfield as Birmingham Brother Rice's Liam Timmis (No. 41) closes the gap during Wednesday's state semifinals. Staff Photo | Dan Stickradt
Late in the first period, the 10th-ranked Red Hawks had some moments of hope. A goal from Kevin Lining cut the deficit to 4-2 with 4:01 left in the period.
That just awoke a sleeping giant.
Brother Rice outscored Athens 11-1 over the final 16 minutes of the first half to cool any thoughts the Red Hawks had of a comeback.
LOVE TAP: Troy Athens' Jake Spinek tries to block the path of BirminghamBrother rice's Riley Kennedy (No. 16) during the Warriors' 17-4 victory. Staff Photo | Dan Stickradt
“It’s a long game. We know its four quarters. If we can play within ourselves and control the tempo we have a lot better chance of putting those goals up,” said Ambrose.
Henry Nelson had seven goals and one assist in the first half for Rice, which attempted 21 shots over the first 24 minutes and cashed in 15 paychecks.
Athens gave up a trio of power-play goals and also hit the posts three times in the first half. The Red Hawks needed to play a perfect game to pull the upset.
“(Rice) is a very dominant team. Our kids gave it everything they had and we came up short,” said Athens coach Nick Stensen.
OFFENSIVE CAPITIST: Birmingham Brother Rice's Riley Kennedy scored three goals in the Warriors' 17-4 state semifinals win over Troy Athens. Staff Photo | Dan Stickradt
“It wasn’t necessarily (bad) luck, it was execution,” added Stensen. “The first possession of the game we were unlucky. We had a shot and it hit a kid and it turned into a turnover (and they score). Momentum starts as soon as they touch the ball.”
Athens was able to contain the Warriors in the third period, trading off a goal apiece and was outscored only 2-1 over the final 24 minutes.
Joe Kemp scored the first goal for Athens (16-6), that coming with 6:01 left in the first frame, but was held in check as a focal point of the Brother Rice defense. Lining scored the final three goals for the Red Hawks.
MINE ALL MINE: Birmingham Brother Rice's John Plaskey (front) scoops up the ball in front of Troy Athens' John Claude Tohme during Wednesday's Division 1 state semifinals. Staff Photo | Dan Stickradt
“They have a couple of really good players and we had to take them out of the game,” said Ambrose. “It’s a team game. It’s not about one player on defense. It’s about the guy on the ball, on the slide and second slide.
“(Kemp) is a really good player, he’s a hard worker. We knew coming in that he was the primary guy for them (offensively),”continued Ambrose of guarding one of the state’s best players. “We wanted to take him out of the game and we did that successfully.”
Riley Kennedy contributed four goals and two assists, MacEachern added two goals and four assists, while Will Meter, John Plaskey and Jason Alessi also scored for Brother Rice.
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Category: High School, High School (M-Z), Prep Wraps, Troy Athens
