By Rick Samuel | Special to The Michigan Catholic
Metro area – The following is an update on Catholic High School League prep sports from around the Detroit area:
Volleyball
Mercy, Farmington Hills, truly earned the top seed heading into the Catholic League volleyball tournament, That’s the because the Marlins uncorked a 25-15, 25-21, 25-20 upset for Marian, Bloomfield Hills. It ended a slide against the Mustangs that included two earlier matches this year and six last year (including in the Class A state semifinals). The Catholic League playoffs are underway, culminating the in A-B and C-D championships Oct. 25 at Madonna University, Livonia.
Tennis
A dominant singles performance (three flight champions and a runner-up) and a solid doubles showing gave Detroit Catholic Central, Novi, the Division 1 state tennis championship. The Shamrocks scored 32 points, two ahead of Ann Arbor Pioneer. It gave CC its first state tennis title in 24 years. Brother Rice, Bloomfield Hills, placed third. Michael Dube, Eric Guindi and Michael Trupiano were the singles champions for the Shamrocks. Joe Dube was second at No. 1 singles, as were the teams of Willy Willson/Kevin Hodges and Brandon Kosinski/Derek Mumaw. Charlie Dillon and Ryan O’Connor teamed to win the No. 2 doubles title for Rice; teammate Jack Hamaty was runner-up at No 3 singles. Cranbrook-Kingswood, Bloomfield Hills, capped its first year as an associate member of the league by winning the state title in Division 3.
Football
Orchard Lake St. Mary's used a trick play – a 29-yard touchdown pass from wide receiver Allen Robinson to Corey Lucas – to help lead to a 14-7 upset win over Catholic Central. That, coupled with Brother Rice’s 17-3 stunner over CC the previous week, put St. Mary’s (7-1) and Rice (5-3) in Saturday’s Prep Bowl A-B title game at Ford Field. Robinson also caught a 31-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Mike Koenigsknecht.
Shrine Catholic, Royal Oak, punched its ticket to the C-D title game with a 31-19 win over Cabrini. Branch Kampe (115 yards rushing) had two touchdowns and Harry Cooney (103 yards) scored a TD for the Knights. Shrine will take on Loyola, Detroit. The Bulldogs scored a big 30-16 win over Our Lady of the Lakes, Waterford, last week, as Demonte Wales rushed for 90 yards and a score and Montel Cooks threw for 102 yards and a TD.
The first game of the day will have Divine Child, Dearborn, face Fr. Gabriel Richard, Ann Arbor. The Falcons whipped Lutheran North, Macomb, 31-14. Jake Lawrence scored two TDs and rushed for 104 yards and Tommy DiPonio added another score.
Golf
Mercy finished third at the Division 2 state golf meet last week. Maggy Lentz (tied for ninth overall) had the low score for Mercy, followed by Kelsey Shaw, Elena Vlachos, Brenna Hammonds and Maddy Asta. Cranbrook-Kingswood (Division 3) and Academy of the Sacred Heart, Bloomfield Hills (Division 4) placed ninth in their respective finals.
Swimming
Mercy scored a 124-62 dual win over Marian. Mercy, ranked No. 1 in Division 2, is going for its third consecutive state title; Marian is ranked No. 2. Nikki Barczak (50-yard and 100 free), Sato Kakihara (200 and 500) and Maria Bargardi (200 individual medley and 100 backstroke) each won twice individually. Jaynie Pulte and Camille Lynch each had one individual win, as did diver Lauren Roberts.
Cross Country
Regina, Warren won the Macomb County meet at Stony Creek Metropark with a low score of 48, but also had the top finisher in freshman Kelsie Schwartz (19 minutes, 4 seconds). The Saddlelites were bolstered by strong finishes from Cassie Bloch (fourth), Christina Ridella (eighth), Jenny Ponkowski (10th) and Colette Chapp (25th). DeLaSalle was fourth in the boys’ competition. The Pilots were led by Andrew Cusmano (19th) and Soctt Rakowski (22nd).
Soccer
A goal in the second overtime lifted Brother Rice, Bloomfield Hills, to a 1-0 win over University of Detroit Jesuit in the Catholic League A-B division boys’ soccer title game. Matthew Biehl scored the lone goal, taking Russell Cicerone’s free kick and heading it in. It was the Warriors’ first win over the Pilots in three tries this year (the other games being a tie and a 3-0 Cubs’ victory). The victory gave Rice its first A-B title since 2005.
In the C-D title game, a third consecutive title went to Bishop Foley, Madison Heights. The Ventures rolled to an 8-2 victory over St. Frances Cabrini, Allen Park. Although Luke Brithinee scored the first of his two goals early, pulling the Monarchs to a 1-1 tie, Foley took charge to open a 6-1 halftime lead.
Unfortunately for Cabrini, Foley went on to score five unanswered goals before intermission. The Ventures had Tyler Stephens, Anthony Rice, Andrew Claucherty and Pat Gumbleton earn all-Catholic honors. Also, Jake Corey was all-league and Shawn Curran was all academic.
