June 3, 2010
HS notebook: Duxbury favored again
by Roger Brown/
The Duxbury (Mass.) High School administration decided not to renew the contract of boys lacrosse coach Chris Sweet in the offseason. The reasoning behind that decision wasn’t made public, although it couldn’t have been because Sweet’s teams didn’t win enough.
Sweet guided Duxbury to its sixth consecutive Division 1 state championship – and its seventh in 11 seasons − last spring. The controversy that followed Sweet’s removal prompted the school to reverse its decision and Sweet had his coaching job back before the season began.
Duxbury is favored to make it seven titles in as many seasons this year. The Green Dragons (19-1) earned the top seed for the 21-team Division I state tournament, which begins this week.
"We always seem to have new players step up and fill important roles and make a name for themselves each year," Sweet told the Patriot Ledger. "But every team is a little bit different, has a different personality, different strengths and weaknesses. Every team has its own character. This one is no exception."
Duxbury’s only loss came against second-seeded St. John's Prep, which ended Duxbury’s 99-game winning streak against MIAA competition last season. Duxbury got more than a little revenge when it beat St. John’s Prep 13-12 in the 2009 state final.
St. John's Prep will enter the tournament with a 16-2 record. Lincoln-Sudbury (17-1) is the No. 3 seed, and Billerica (18-2) is seeded No. 4.
Champlain Valley earns top seed
Vermont’s high school lacrosse tournaments began on Wednesday. Champlain Valley Union (15-1) is the top seed in the boys Division I tournament and is one of four schools that earned a first-round bye. No. 2 Mount Anthony (14-2), No. 3 Essex (14-2) and No. 4 Rutland (13-3) will also have a bye in the first round.
Top-seeded Harwood (13-3) and second-seeded Randolph (12-2) are the only boys teams that received byes in the Division II tournament.
There will be two first-round games in the 10-team Division I girls tournament. The six others won’t play until the quarterfinals. The top-seeded teams are No. 1 Mount Anthony (14-1), No. 2 Middlebury (12-3) and No. 3 South Burlington (10-3).
Chelsea, the state’s only undefeated team (14-0), is the No. 1 seed in the girls Division II tournament. U-32 (10-6) is the No. 2 seed.
West is best
The Cape Elizabeth (Maine) boys overcame a 6-1 deficit to hand Yarmouth a 10-7 loss Friday night. Yarmouth, which has won the last two Class B state championships, lost for the first time in more than two years.
Tom Foden scored three goals for Cape Elizabeth, which raised its Western Maine Class B record to 8-1. Yarmouth, which competes in Eastern Maine, fell to 11-1.
Noteworthy
►Scarborough (Maine) posted a 12-9 victory over Kennebunk on Thursday to finish the regular season as the only unbeaten girls team in the state. Ellie Morin and Kelsey Howard each scored three goals for Scarborough, which will enter the Class A tournament with a 12-0 record.
►Rhode Island’s high school lacrosse champions will be determined this weekend at Rhode IslandCollegein Providence. The girls championship games will be played Saturday at 2 p.m. (Division I), 4 p.m. (Division II) and 6 p.m. (Division III). The boys championship games will be held Sunday at 1 p.m. (Division I), 3 p.m. (Division II) and 5 p.m. (Division III).
►Londonderry (14-0 in Division I), Winnacunnet (13-0 in Division II) and Hollis-Brookline (12-0 in Division III) are the No. 1 seeds for the New Hampshire girls state tournaments, which began Wednesday. Bishop Guertin (12-0 in Division I), Bow (12-2 in Division II) and Kingswood (14-0 in Division III) are the top-seeded teams in the boys tournaments. The Division I and Division II tournaments will start Thursday. The Division III tournament will begin quarterfinal-round play Thursday.
►Billerica(Mass) attackman Grant Whiteway completed the regular season as the state’s leading scorer. Whiteway netted 87 goals and 48 assists in 18 games.
