Lacrosse championships Day 1 coverage from Denmark High: West Forsyth girls, Lambert boys win titles

The Raiders were ranked No. 2 in Division III.

“It’s been seven years of hard work,” Grizzlies coach John Keifer said. “You know, we put a lot of work in this. These girls work really hard. They do their private lessons, they do weight training. I mean, it’s been a tough year, and we we came out on top. The toughest part of the year was just getting all these high level superstars to realize that they have to play together. Once you get them to play as a team, they’re unstoppable, which you saw.”

The Grizzlies trailed 1-0 30 seconds in, and 2-1 with 10:01 left in the first quarter. They took a 3-2 lead with 8:35 left in the quarter and never trailed again. They led 5-3 after the first quarter, then went on a 5-0 second-quarter run to take a 10-3 lead at halftime. They outscored Walton 4-1 third quarter to extend the lead to double-digits at 14-4, and never looked back.

Freshman Luca Diehl led the Grizzlies with six goals and junior Bryn Birkholz had five, including three in the final three minutes of the first half, which extended their lead to 10-3 heading into the locker room. Her sister, freshman Bryce Birkholz, and senior Alex Starke, each had two goals.

“To come out here with all that momentum and really step up was really exciting and fun,” Diehl said." It’s not only important to score goals, but also keeping your head up, keep feeding to your teammates, and sharing the love, because we win as a team."

The Raiders (17-4) were trying to win their second championship and first since beating Milton in 2016. They were led by sophomore Brook Friend, who scored four goals.

Credit: Adam Krohn

Credit: Adam Krohn

Division III boys

Lambert Longhorns 12, South Forsyth War Eagles 0: After coming up short in the title game each of the past two seasons, the Longhorns ran away with the championship this time, winning their first since back-to-back titles in 2021 and 2022, and their seventh overall, tying Westminster for most boys lacrosse titles in GHSA history.

With the win, the Longhorns finished 22-0. They entered the game No. 2 in the country, and No. 1 overall in the state on MaxPreps. The closest any team came to beating them was Lassiter, which the Longhorns beat 10-9 in overtime on April 16.

Friday’s title game was a rematch from April 10, when the Longhorns beat the War Eagles 15-0.

“There was nothing that was going to stop them this year,” Longhorns coach John Spaide said. “They put all their eggs in the season knowing that we weren’t going to let any beat us, and we had a great year. Our defense had an unbelievable season, averaging about four goals a game, and to get a shutout in the championship game is the cherry on top.”

It took some time, but the Longhorns broke a scoreless tie with 6:42 left in the first quarter on senior Brooks Wehman’s first of two goals. The Longhorns led 3-0 after the first quarter, then pulled away in the second with a 6-0 run to go up 9-0 heading into halftime. With a running clock in the second half, they tacked on three more goals in the third quarter.

Senior Cole Greenfield led the Longhorns with four goals, followed by sophomore Trey Cooper (three).

“This Lambert team is the closest we’ve been in a long time, at least in my four years,” Greenfield said. “And all of us has been playing together for a long time, and it feels great to win with this one. I think this is the best team we’ve ever had...The expectations were exactly what we did, go defeated and win a state championship. We lost the past two, and it felt good to win this one, that’s what we wanted to do.”

The War Eagles, who came in ranked No. 2 in Division III and were trying to win their first state title, finish 15-7.