Cranbrook Emerges With 2nd-Half Surge
June 9, 2018
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
GRAND LEDGE – Many of the players on the field to start the second half of Saturday’s Division 2 Girls Lacrosse Final had played major roles when Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood won its first championship in the sport a year ago.
They weren’t about to settle for less.
The Cranes clutched a one-goal lead with 19 minutes to play, but scored 13 of the next 15 goals to finish with a much more comfortable 18-6 win over Okemos at Grand Ledge High School.
Four of the brightest stars from an accomplished group of eight seniors combined to score 11 of those second-half goals for Cranbrook, which also had finished Division 2 runner-up in 2015 and 2016.
“We had a little pep talk at halftime, which we do, and it really gets everyone pumped. And a lot of us, it was our last game of high school – and the girls who aren’t going to play in college, their last game ever,” Cranbrook senior Isabelle Scane said. “I think they just wanted something special, and I think that’s how we got the rally going. And once you get going, it’s almost impossible to stop.”
Scane – set to continue playing at Northwestern University – scored five goals, including four in the second half. She ended this season with 101 and closed her four-year varsity career with an MHSAA record 461, 185 more goals than the next player on the all-time list.
Senior Sophia Milia added three goals and five assists, the latter all during the second half. All four of senior Angelina Wiater’s goals and both assists also came over the final 25 minutes, while junior Jessica Geiger added two of her three goals and senior Delaney Langdon netted her score during the second half as well.
In the end, the Cranes’ 18 goals ranked as the fifth most in MHSAA Finals history – while they gave up what tied for the third fewest all-time.
“It was a matter of giving them a reality check – you don’t get to take this game back. You don’t have another chance at the state championship,” Cranes first-year coach Evan Foulsham said of the halftime chat. “You don’t get to wear the uniform again if you’re a senior.
“It was all a little bit of a heart check in terms of bringing out the passion, and I think it worked.”
Cranbrook finished 17-1-1, its only loss to Rockford, which won the Division 1 championship earlier Saturday.
The Cranes and Chiefs had faced off earlier this season, Cranbrook emerging a 14-10 victor. Okemos (19-4) in its Semifinal had avenged a regular-season loss (and three straight Semifinal defeats) to East Grand Rapids, and was seeking to flip one more past result to close the season.
Senior Alyssa Karber scored two goals for the Chiefs, who graduated nine contributors to this breakthrough run.
“I’m so lucky to have played with those girls growing up. I definitely think this year we took it to another level,” Okemos senior Melaina Grewal said. “The (senior) girls taught the younger girls a lot of things about how to push through, how to keep practicing, how to work hard, and this is just proof that you can end up where you want after you work hard – so I’m assuming that the younger girls’ work ethic will continue to be strong.”
Click for the full scoring summary.
VIDEO: Isabelle Scane scores during the closing seconds of the first half.
PHOTOS: (Top) Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood raises the Division 2 championship trophy Saturday for the second straight season. (Middle) Cranbrook’s Sophia Milia (10) defends Okemos’ Campbell Foltz.
LaMange Climbing Career Scoring Lists for Annual Contender East Grand Rapids
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
April 30, 2024
East Grand Rapids senior Vivian LaMange entered this season 15th on the MHSAA career girls lacrosse goals list with 225, fifth on the career assists list with 172 and eighth on the career points list with 397.
Her single-season goals, assists and points for all of her first three seasons all made those lists as well, with highs of 102 goals last spring, 64 assists as a sophomore and 147 points a year ago in leading the Pioneers to a Division 2 runner-up finish and their fourth-straight Finals appearance.
She has signed with Robert Morris University in Pennsylvania.
See below for more recent updates to the MHSAA girls lacrosse record book and click the heading to see the record book in full.
Girls Lacrosse
Huron Valley United, a cooperative program with athletes from White Lake Lakeland and Milford, added 16 record book entries during the 2023 season, including as a team for 309 goals over 19 games – which ranks seventh on that list. Senior Emily Prell earned three single-game entries, two more for 76 goals and 120 points and career listings for 171 goals and 145 assists over 52 games and three seasons. Chloe Caldwell, a freshman in the spring, earned six single-game listings and two more for 88 goals and 107 points over 19 games.
Seven DeWitt players were added with a series of accomplishments over the last three seasons. Caleigh Randall, a 2022 graduate, was added 12 times including for 157 goals and 205 points over her three-season career interrupted by COVID in 2020. Kerrigan Brown, a 2021 graduate, was entered 10 times including for 149 goals and 221 points over her three-season career that also missed out on 2020. Elliana Hillard was added three times for 2023 achievements, including for 75 goals over 23 games, and teammates Ireland Brown and Taylor Young also earned listings. DeWitt as a team was added for its goal total all three seasons, with the high during that string of 323 goals over 22 games in 2021. Randall and Brown have continued their careers at Hope College. Hillard, Brown and Young are all seniors this school year.
Grand Ledge’s Averie Gordon concluded her career in 2021 with a pair of record book-scoring games. She made the single-game goals list with 10 against Holt and seven against Davison that spring.
Leah Reid capped her three-season Lansing Catholic career last spring among the all-time leading scorers both for goals and total points. She scored 73 over 17 games as a senior and finished with 205 goals (tied for 18th) and 236 points for her career. She and senior teammate Sarah Hicks both also made the single-game goals lists, senior Bella Hagen made the single-game assists list and now-senior Emily Putman made the single-game goalie saves list.
Warren Regina’s Holly Watson closed her three-season varsity career in 2023 with 18 record book entries, including some of the highest for goalies over the history of the sport at the MHSAA level. Watson finished with 176 saves over 18 games as a senior – tied for 16th-most – and her 545 saves over 42 games rank second on the career list.
Haslett/Williamston finished 19-3 last season on the way to the Division 2 Semifinals, led by several standouts who contributed to multiple record book entries for team achievements as well. H/W scored 291 goals over 22 games, led by then-freshman Abby Russell – who made single-season lists with 83 goals, 42 assists and 125 points. Breyer Fenech, a senior this spring, made season lists with 70 goals and 87 points, and she, Russell and senior Brianna Nedwick all made the single-game scoring list. Haslett/Williamston also gave up only 96 goals, with then-junior Kylie Pastor making the single-season saves list with 150, the single-game saves list for the second time, and also the career list with 402 and a season to play. Fenech is continuing at Maryland, Nedwick at Detroit Mercy, and Pastor has committed to Coastal Carolina. Additionally, 2021 graduate Natalie Kurdziel was added for seven goals in a game twice and 80 points during her senior season.
Troy Athens goalie Claire Balintfy added three more single-game saves performances to her list of record book listings in 2023, with her 197 saves over 18 games ranking eighth all-time (and with her 2022 total still second on the list). Balintfy is up to 522 career saves over 51 games and three seasons, ranking third on that record book list.
Rochester Adams was added for 245 goals over 18 games last season, and Lucy Lagman and Raegan Jerrell combined for 20 record book listings in goal and assist categories. Lagman had a game-high 10 goals and scored 103 for the season, and has 151 goals over her two-year varsity career. She also had 12 points in a game and 125 points for the 2023 season. Jerrell had seven goals in a game twice, five assists in a game three times, finished with 70 goals and 48 assists last season and also made the points list with 118. Additionally, Kate Kramm was added for eight goals in a game and 58 for the season over 18 games as a senior in 2022. Lagman is a junior this spring, and Jerrell is a sophomore.
PHOTO East Grand Rapids’ Vivian LaMange (24) is introduced before last season’s Division 2 Final.