June 7, 2007

by Paul Ohanian, Lacrosse Magazine Online Staff

There's now a new scoring champion in the nebulous world of high school lacrosse records.

Senior Tim Stratton of Pennsylvania's Manheim Township is the new unofficial leader, following in the cleat prints of Max Quinzani, who held the title for one year and just completed his freshman season at Duke.

Stratton registered his 578th career point - besting Quinzani's mark of 577 - on a goal in the fourth quarter of the Central Pennsylvania Championship Game against Warwick last Saturday. He added a late assist to push his total to 579 points as Manheim won 16-7.

Stratton downplayed his record-setting achievement following the game.

"I was real relieved and all the excitement about it is over," he told the Lancaster Intelligencer Journal. "It's a huge deal, but I try not to really think about it. It'll probably hit me after the season."

"After the season" arrived three days later for Stratton and his then-undefeated Manheim Township team. Despite 10 more points from the national leader on four goals and six assists, Central champion Manheim (26-1) suffered its first loss Tuesday, falling to Western Pennsylvania champion Mount Lebanon 16-14 in the Keystone Cup Tournament.

Mount Lebanon advances to Friday's state final against Eastern Pennsylvania champion Downingtown East (20-3), while Stratton closes shop with the new standard for others to chase, 589 points.

Playing Robin to Stratton's Batman all season for Manheim was fellow senior John DuBois, who actually introduced Stratton to the game when both were in grade school.

DuBois finished with 118 goals this year, many set up on assists by Stratton.

"A big part of my job as attack is to finish and score," DuBois told the Intelligencer Journal. "With Tim also at the attack, he just sees the field so well and he helps by hooking me up with good passes."

Both seniors will play at Towson University next season.

* The National Senior Showcase announced its team rosters this week, featuring many of the top senior boys' from around the nation. The final four-type tournament, with teams representing the North, South, East and West geographical regions, will be played June 22-23 in Denver.

"This event is truly national in scope as we try to have players represented from as many states as possible," said Jody Martin, US Lacrosse's Men's Division Director. "The high school area chairmen do a wonderful job of selecting and inviting the top kids from their areas. And the kids love playing side-by-side with great players from throughout the country. It's a pleasure to run this event."

Seventy-five players representing 24 different states have been selected for the event. To read more about the NSS and to see a full list of participants, click here.

* The long championship drought is over for Ohio's Mariemont High School, thanks to the boys' lacrosse team. Mariemont defeated New Albany 7-4 on Saturday to win the state's Division II title. The championship was the first in any sport in 53 years for MHS. Mariemont had not won a championship since claiming the boys' basketball crown in 1954. A busload of fans made the nearly two-hour trip to Dublin, site of the final, in hopes of celebrating the end of the title drought.

Senior Noah Gibby scored four of Mariemont's seven goals.

"Everyone was going crazy," Gibby told Cincinnati's Community Press. "Usually, this many fans aren't at a lacrosse game."

* Title droughts are not an issue for Upper Arlington, which claimed its fourth straight Ohio Division I boys' state championship and the 123rd team championship in school history. UA capped a 20-1 season by defeating previously undefeated Hudson 14-2 in the final. UA closed the year with a 16-game winning streak and claimed its 10th state title in the past 16 years.

* The Upper Arlington girls finished one game short of matching the UA boys' title however, losing 9-7 to Sycamore in the Ohio Division I girls' final. Sycamore defeated UA for the second time this season and finished as the state's only undefeated team with a perfect 20-0 mark.

* A couple of first-time winners emerged in this week's New Hampshire state championships. Hanover won its first boys' title, defeating Bishop Guertin 11-8 in the final. Both BG losses this season came against Hanover. Meanwhile, the Portsmouth girls capped an undefeated 16-0 campaign by defeating Hollis/Brookline 10-8 in the Division III championship to secure their first crown.

* In New York, they're down to the state semifinals, with boys' games in all three classifications scheduled for Thursday and girls' semifinals scheduled for Friday. Six championship games will be played on Saturday.

On the boys' side, traditional Class A powers West Islip and West Genesee have been on a collision course all season for a championship rematch, and are in position to face off Saturday if they survive semifinal tests against Yorktown and Irondequoit, respectively. Meanwhile, two-time defending championship Huntington, riding a 63-game winning streak, is still the team to beat in Class B. Regardless of which team emerges in Class C, the division will have a new champion for the fourth straight season.

The West Genesee girls (22-0) are two wins away from completing an undefeated campaign and face Lakeland-Panas (21-1) in Friday's semifinal. The Class B semifinal between Brighton and Garden City is a re-match of the last three state finals. Brighton won the 2004 and 2005 crowns while Garden City claimed last year's title. Three-time defending state champion Skaneateles carries a 20-game winning streak into its Friday semifinal against Nanuet.