Brophy seeks third straight Arizona lacrosse championship vs. Pinnacle

Phoenix Pinnacle is the cool lacrosse story, starting the year with no game field to reaching the boys state high school championship game.

But Phoenix Brophy Prep has been the dominant story in boys lacrosse the last three years.

The Broncos might have their best team yet under coach Pat Harbeson, as they seek their third consecutive Arizona Lacrosse League high school championship Friday at 7:30 p.m., against Pinnacle at Scottsdale Notre Dame Prep.

They have five players committed to Division I colleges. They are Noah Burdick (Hofstra University), Deion James (Hampton), Charlie McGinnis (Hofstra), Laird Miller (Rollins College) and Erik Volfson (Lafayette College). McGinnis was the quarterback of Brophy's 6A semifinal football team. Billy Eastep, who has committed to Yale for football, is another key senior on Brophy's lacrosse team, looking for a third state title.

It shows how well-connected Harbeson is and how far youth lacrosse has come in the state, despite it not being an Arizona Interscholastic Association-sanctioned sport.

Pinnacle succeeding through adversity

Brophy (21-2), which has lost its only games to top out-of-state teams, has beaten Pinnacle twice this season. But Harbeson realizes the grind it took for the Pioneers to get here. Before the season, there was some panic in the Pinnacle lacrosse community that it would be shut out of the school's new turf field for its home games.

But after push back from parents, the Paradise Valley Unified School District allowed the lacrosse team to use the refurbished field in the school's football stadium.

"The adversity that Pinnacle had in the beginning of the season," Harbeson said. "It's amazing that they overcame that, and now representing their high school and playing for a state championship."

There's a handful of the seniors from both schools that began playing lacrosse at the same time on the same youth team. That includes Pinnacle all-state long-stick midfielder Nick Johnson and Nick Miller. Miller is committed to Concordia to play college lacrosse. Now they're all playing with and against each other.

Miller leads the Pioneers with 30 goals. Cameron Conti has 20 goals and 19 assists and Chase Morrier has 14 goals and 20 assists. Aiden Ray is among the top goalies in the state with 182 saves.

One last ride

"They're competing with each other for a state championship one last time," Harbeson said. "That's really cool."

As great as Brophy's seniors have been, 45% of the team's goals have been scored by underclassmen. So Brophy's dynasty is just now ramping up. Junior Josh Buse leads the team with 59 goals, 15 assists and a shooting percentage of 34.

James, a senior, has one eye and inserts a glass lizard eye in the other socket, has had 457 face-offs, winning 345 of them.

This will be the 24th state high school lacrosse championship game. If Brophy wins, it would be the school's eighth, and third in a row under Harbeson, who has a 73-13 record over four seasons at the helm, in his first year leading the program, Brophy lost to Anthem Boulder Creek in the state championship game.

This Brophy team is ranked No. 6 in the West Region by USA Lacrosse magazine.

"This is the most complete and probably the best team I've coached," Harbeson. "We have a goalie who is a sophomore (Ryan Peitzmeier) and will be a Division I lacrosse player.

"Deion James' skill set has skyrocketed across the board. I'll make the argument that he's an All-American."

To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert at richard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter:@azc_obert

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Brophy Prep seeks Arizona HS lacrosse championship vs. Pinnacle