‘This group dug deep.’ Henry Clay tops Douglass; Woodford ousts LexCath in lacrosse regionals

Henry Clay boys lacrosse has become accustomed to contending for region and state championships. The Blue Devils have won six state titles in the last 11 years, two in the latest iteration of central Kentucky high school lacrosse, the Commonwealth Lacrosse League.

But during an April stretch that saw Henry Clay lose six of eight games, the Blue Devils looked a far cry from being able to make a second straight trip to the CLL finals.

“This group dug deep. In the middle of the season, we were in a super rut, and they picked themselves up, and we kept building momentum,” Henry Clay coach Ben Ternosky said. “We relied on our seniors heavy today and our freshman goalie Arlo (Johnson) played out of his mind.”

Henry Clay senior attacker Jonah Brooking scored four goals in Wednesday’s CLL Region 2 finals, including the tying goal with 3:16 left in regulation and the winning goal less than a minute into sudden-death overtime to help the Blue Devils defeat Frederick Douglass 7-6 at The Farm and advance to Saturday’s CLL state championship game.

Max Thayer assisted on the game winner with a short pass to Brooking to the right of the crease.

“It was really an intense moment,” Brooking said. “We got a game plan and it succeeded. We just did exactly what Coach told us to do and we put the ball in the back of the net and scored.”

Thayer, Grady Brown and Griffin Kaylor also scored goals in a game that went back and forth over the 48 minutes of regulation. Henry Clay led 5-4 at halftime and trailed 6-5 early in the fourth quarter. Johnson had nine saves.

“It ended just how I thought it would,” Ternosky said. “Jonah stepped up to the challenge. You know, winners want the ball and he called for it, he wanted it and he cashed in.”

Brooking has been a varsity player since his freshman year in 2021, which was the last time Henry Clay won it all.

“He’s taken a big step to be a leader — not just by scoring but, off field, getting guys together, getting them organized, and I’m gonna miss that kid whenever this crazy ride ends, let me tell you.”

Brooking credited fellow senior Grayson Pham for helping set up the winning sequence by winning the overtime’s face-off. Henry Clay immediately called timeout once in possession.

“It just changed the momentum instantly,” Brooking said. “It made our offense get up and we were just like ‘we’ve got to finish the game right here.’ And we did.”

No. 11 Douglass (15-5) had home-field advantage Wednesday by virtue of defeating Henry Clay 6-5 on April 11. Wednesday, the Broncos got two goals from Jake Williams and one each from Alex Olivera, Jimmy Hooks, Reed Mizuer and Evan Neary

Henry Clay (13-7) will face Woodford County in the CLL championship at 7 p.m. Saturday at Transylvania University’s Pat Deacon Stadium. The No. 4 Yellow Jackets defeated No. 10 Henry Clay 13-12 on March 8.

Woodford County topples two-time defending champs

Woodford County (17-0) remained unbeaten and exacted revenge on Lexington Catholic by defeating the two-time defending CLL state champions 7-4 at home to win the Region 1 title at Community Stadium in Versailles on Wednesday.

“It’s been a long time coming. You know, they’ve knocked us out the past two years in the semifinals. So there’s a little revenge there,” said Woodford coach Ted Wilson, whose team edged LexCath 9-8 in overtime in a regular season game April 24. “This one meant a lot more. It kind of put a cherry on top of it. Last year, (in the region finals) they beat us 14-nothing.”

Charlie Twehues scored four goals, Cole Humston, two, and Behr Wheeler another as the No. 4 Yellow Jackets overcame a 3-2 halftime deficit. Wilson said he wasn’t concerned about trailing at halftime.

“‘I came into the locker room and said. ‘Guys, why do you think we’re in trouble right now? We’re the best team in central Kentucky. All we got to do is go out here and play our game,’” Wilson said. “We haven’t even started yet. So, we got a couple of momentum goals coming out of halftime and didn’t look back.”

This season marks Woodford County’s first wins over No. 5 Lexington Catholic (11-6), its first win over Henry Clay and its first trip to the club sport’s state finals, Wilson said.

High school lacrosse has been played by a number of central Kentucky and Louisville schools for years but will not be sanctioned by the KHSAA until next season. The CLL is composed of teams from south central, northern and central Kentucky. Louisville-area schools compete in the Kentucky Scholastic Lacrosse League. Each league crowns a state champion.

Saturday’s games

At Transylvania University’s Pat Deacon Stadium

5 p.m.: CLL All-Star Game

7 p.m.: CLL State Championship — Woodford County (17-0) vs. Henry Clay (13-7)

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