Brother Rice takes D-1 lacrosse title with 14-11 win over Novi Detroit Catholic Central

EAST GRAND RAPIDS — The Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice Warriors came into the Division 1 boys lacrosse state finals with "a chip on their shoulder."

After suffering one-point losses in last year's final (against Hartland) and the 2023 regular-season matchup against Novi Detroit Catholic Central, the Warriors came away with a 14-11 victory over the Shamrocks in the 2023 state final at East Grand Rapids High School.

Head coach Ajay Chawla said the loss last year drove his team to come back prepared this year.

"When you lose, you focus in, and we focused in the day after the state championship," Chawla said. "We talked and they weren't gonna lose again. They started working that day, and this is a culmination of 365 days of hard work."

WINTER STARS: Detroit High School Sports Awards: Meet all winter sports athlete of the year nominees

THE NEXT LEVEL: How Peter Thompson became Michigan lacrosse's hometown hero

DCC gained possession first and got a shot on goal that was denied by goalie Cam Sims. Rice then carried that momentum down the field with ease. Hunter Polonkey found himself with the ball within range and maneuvered his way around a defender to find the top right corner of the net for the first score. The senior leader went on to score four goals in the victory.

More impressively, he did it with a torn meniscus.

"When you're out there, it's the last thing on your mind," Polonky said. You're just out there for your teammates."

DCC's Jack Cyrek powered one in to tie things up, before both teams appeared in a deadlock thanks to saves from Sims and DCC goalie Charles Graves. A miscue from Rice sent the ball out of bounds and gave possession back to DCC, and Cyrek capitalized once again. The Shamrocks found the net one more time before the first quarter came to an end on a close-range goal from Lachlan Moffatt.

With just seconds left in the first quarter, meanwhile, Rice's Hunter Polonkey bounced one into the lower left corner of the net with ease to cut the deficit to one. After some quick personnel changes early in the second quarter, Ben Eck tied things up at 3-3.

And then the Warriors were rolling.

MORE: Tony Magni to receive Lifetime Achievement Award at Detroit High School Sports Awards show

Braden Zarek, Johnny Kunz and Sam Klein scored to extend the lead to 6-3, and it looked as if there would be no answer for the surging Rice offense. That is, until DCC's Cyrek found himself with possession near the goal.

He wasted no time putting it away to give the Shamrocks some needed momentum. Moffatt was able to add a goal on a quick dish from behind the net just a few possessions later to make it a one-goal game heading into halftime.

DCC's Sean Donahue came out of the locker room ready to go. He scored three goals in the third quarter, with the first being an absolute missile to the back of the net.

The back-and-forth nature of the game continued as Rice took the lead once again towards the end of the third thanks to goals from Polonkey, Klein and Caiden Ramos. The Warriors headed into the fourth quarter with a one-goal lead.

Polonkey and Donahue each got a goal early in the fourth to keep things interesting, followed by goals from Ramos and Moffatt to keep it a one-point game with under five minutes to play. Goals from Kunz and Brendan Frick pushed the Warriors' lead to three.

Klein cut to the middle to put the ball in the net with under two minutes to play, but a DCC goal from Cyrek kept the Shamrocks' hopes alive. The Rice defense remained strong, however, to close it out.

"There wasn't a guy on our sideline who thought we were going to lose that game," Chawla said. "When everybody believes that and everybody's driven toward that goal, we can sometimes make that happen. Today we did."

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice tops DCC for Division 1 lacrosse title