Beverly Hills, Birmingham

Forest Hills Central lacrosse gets past Beverly Hills Detroit Country Day

By Christian Davis
C & G Sports Writer

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BIRMINGHAM — In a battle of boys lacrosse championship programs, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central proved it was best June 9 at Birmingham Seaholm.

The Rangers, who won the Division 2 state title two seasons ago, beat the defending champs, Beverly Hills Detroit Country Day 7-6.

“We knew we were going to have to play our best against Country Day. They’re a great team and have had a fantastic season,” Central coach Tony Quinn said. “We knew we’d have to give it everything we had.”

In the early goings, it looked like another Country Day state title was in the forecast. The Yellowjackets led 4-1 late into the second quarter with two goals from Shane Switzer, and one apiece from Pat Dugan and Ryan Prior, but the Rangers went on a 6-2 run from then on out.

“At halftime, we talked and said, ‘We can win this game. There’s nothing out there that we haven’t seen before.’ They came out enthusiastic and got our transition game going, and that was the difference,” Quinn said.

In the third, Central got two scores from Collin Schlosser, and one each from Collin Neil Cunningham, Kevin Stephen and Luke Gerard all within a five-minute span.

Bobby Weiner got on the board for Country Day in the frame, and Switzer scored his third.

Neither team scored in the fourth.

“They got some breaks, got going on transition and got a couple goals on us,” Country Day senior goalie Ahmed Iftikhar said. “The game is all about momentum, and they got the momentum going. We just didn’t answer it.”

Country Day coach Byron Collins said Central played a strong game for the win.

“Errors that we had been making early in the season, suddenly started resurfacing … but hat's off to them. It takes a good team to take advantage of those things,” he said.

The Yellowjackets finish 15-7 overall and Central ends 21-2.

In other lacrosse news:
In girls lacrosse, Birmingham United beat Hartland High 12-11 in overtime in the D-1 final June 9 at Rockford High. United's Kathy Quigley scored two goals in the final two minutes of overtime to give the Bulldogs the victory. It's United's fourth state title in the last six years.

You can reach C & G Sports Writer Christian Davis at cdavis@candgnews.com or at (586)498-1062. Follow Christian on Twitter.