When the Lambert Longhorns coaching staff saw the area alignments for the new 7A, it knew what an uphill climb it would be just to clinch a top-two seed, now good for a first-round bye. If the Longhorns beat Denmark Friday, and Buford beats North Gwinnett, they’ll win Area 4, entering the 24-team playoff field in prime position, and with a crack at a third consecutive state title.
John Spaide, who joined the Longhorns staff, led by director Rich Wehman, ahead of last season when they won 6A-7A for the second year in a row, recalled the preseason discussions once the areas were drawn.
“We knew immediately Area 4 would be the top one in the state, just based on depth of talent,” Spaide said. “Even a team like Peachtree Ridge is going over to Area 1 and killing it.”
Peachtree Ridge is 1-7 in area play, but is 3-0 against fellow Gwinnett schools in Area 1, beating first-place Mountain View, third-place Grayson and fifth-place Collins Hill. To Spaide’s point, Peachtree Ridge will miss the playoffs this season despite six teams qualifying from each area but, if assigned elsewhere, could’ve possibly clinched a first-round bye.
In the latest AJC rankings released Tuesday, Area 4 has four teams in the top 5 and six in the top 10. They are No. 1 West Forsyth, No. 3 Lambert, No. 4 Buford, No. 5 North Gwinnett and No. 8 Denmark. The Longhorns (12-3, 7-1 in area play), with Denmark on deck, are 2-1 in games against ranked area opponents, beating Buford and North Gwinnett and losing to West Forsyth.
The Longhorns’ 10-3 win over Buford came on March 30 and was followed by spring break, so Denmark will be their first game in two weeks. Denmark (10-5, 3-3) lost its first game back from spring break Tuesday, 12-11 to Etowah in non-area play.
Spaide said the Longhorns will be ready Friday despite the long layoff in which there were no practices or team obligations.
“It’s never easy coming back from a week off, but we’re not worried about rust,” Spaide said. “We’ve had great practices this week, and we’ve got our conditioning back. It’s senior night, too. We’ll be ready to go.”
The Longhorns are 2-3 against ranked teams, with the wins coming against area opponents and the losses to 5A-6A’s top-ranked Blessed Trinity and No. 3 Roswell, plus an area opponent. They also beat a pair of Mount Pleasant, S.C., schools in Beckham and Wando, ranked No. 3 and 7 overall in South Carolina according to the MaxPreps computer rankings.
The Longhorns are led by senior midfielder Christopher Harper, who has 29 goals and 21 assists, sophomore attacks Cole Greenfield (23, 3) and Brooks Wehman (20, 19), senior attack Evan Suh (20, 9) and junior midfielder Kevin Connolly (12, 6).
Senior Liam Sweeney (22 ground balls, six takeaways) anchors the defense, a unit that played a vital role in keeping the Longhorns’ area title hopes alive. If Lambert beats Denmark and Buford beats North Gwinnett, that would create a three-way tie atop the standings between West Forsyth, Lambert and Buford at 8-1. The tiebreaker of goals allowed is applied to the games played among the three tied teams, and the Longhorns gave up the fewest with 13 — three to Buford and 10 to West Forsyth in a 10-9 loss on March 23.
With so much still at stake, Spaide said the Longhorns aren’t talking about a third consecutive state championship. Though 10 current players were on the team each of the previous two seasons, their individual experience during those playoff runs varies.
There’s also a number of key-contributing sophomores, including Greenfield, Wehman, midfielder Harrison Richard and defenders Cooper Brannon and Branson Brooks, who were in middle school when the title run began.
“We’re working toward making sure we’re playing our best lacrosse in May,” Spaide said. “That’s our only goal, and there’s not much talk about anything other than that. We realize every team will be coming after us, and we expect their best effort.”
After Denmark, the Longhorns close the regular season next week with two non-area games against a pair of 9-6 teams in Westminster (April 18) and Lovett (April 21). Though unranked by the AJC, the MaxPreps has Westminster No. 3 and Lovett No. 4 in its 1A-4A computer rankings.
“We’ll use these games to figure out who are guys are going to be in May,” Spaide said. “That’s what we’re building towards.”
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