St. Xavier boys win fifth straight Kentucky state lacrosse championship, 16th in history
For the fifth non-COVID year in a row, Scott Howe is going home with a sports drink-soaked polo shirt.
His St. Xavier boys lacrosse squad claimed its 16th state title in school history with a 22-14 win over South Oldham in Monday's Kentucky Scholastic Lacrosse League state final at Trinity's Marshall Stadium.
In 23 years at the helm and all those titles under his belt, the 70-year-old head coach and Kentucky lacrosse pioneer is still having fun.
"I'm not coaching my kids, but they're all my kids," Howe said.
Lacrosse has come a long way in Kentucky since the Baltimore native led the first all-St. X championship team in 2001, a time when it truly looked and operated like a club sport.
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No stranger to growing the game, Howe saw time in goal during Virginia's 1972 NCAA title season in just the second collegiate tournament ever.
Once he moved to Kentucky, Howe accelerating lacrosse's growth in the Bluegrass State.
He said he's always envisioned lacrosse living within Kentucky's schools and hopes recent KHSAA news will bring the best athletes to the growing game.
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The state's high school governing body is likely to join a handful of southern states in sanctioning the sport, as early as the 2024-25 school year. The Board of Control is awaiting a final participation survey to set it in motion just two years after voting 'no' to lacrosse championships.
"It'll give it some more legitimacy, and it'll make athletes at schools recognize that athletes need to play this," Howe said. "If you're an athlete, you like to compete. It's the greatest sport in the world."
That means St. X may have won one of the final KSLL state championships before the trophy says "KHSAA."
On Monday night, the Tigers got out to a fast 4-0 lead before the Dragons fought back into a mostly even game. Both teams traded goals over the middle of the matchup before the Tigers scored five straight goals to start the third and fourth quarters and create the distance.
St. X senior Henry Mercer lifted the lightning-fast offense with seven goals and four assists. Fellow senior Tyler Jurgenson followed with three goals and four assists.
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"The third we kind of blew up, so that kinda takes the wind out of their sails," Howe said.
South Oldham freshman Harrison Ramsey led the Dragons in their first state championship appearance with five scores, and senior Evan Mason added three goals.
The Tigers' road back to the top didn't come without a few bumps. Playing a gauntlet of a regional schedule in seven states, St. X got knocked around by some nationally ranked programs.
Without that experience, though, Howe's offense may not have found its fast-paced dominance.
"We lost some games that made us rethink what we're doing," Howe said. "We play really fast, and that catches people by surprise."
The Tigers posted a plus-175 goal differential on the year, and its margin was even more stellar once the regional tournament started — a plus-101 mark over the Tigers' final five games.
Already an inaugural U.S. Lacrosse Kentucky Chapter Hall of Famer, there aren't many accolades Howe has left to earn whenever he decides to retire.
Except perhaps the final state championship in the KSLL and the first under the KHSAA banner.
Reach reporter Caleb Wiegandt at cwiegandt@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @CalebWiegandt.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky high school boys lacrosse: St. Xavier wins state championship
