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Blue Ridge lacrosse sticks together, wins VIC title

Photo by Bart Isley

What Blue Ridge’s boys lacrosse team did Wednesday afternoon in a 16-8 win over North Cross to take the VIC tournament title was about brotherhood. It was about sticking together.

 

“This is my third year here and we’ve never had a tighter group of kids than this,” said Blue Ridge’s Shane Ford. “It’s really nice to have and really nice to finish this way.”

 

Several of the Barons’ group of seniors and juniors came in with high expectations while joining a program not far removed from a state final run. Instead they found that they had work to do, enduring a 6-9 season as sophomores before nudging back above .500 as juniors. It hasn’t been easy for the group, but it paid off with an unbeaten run through the VIC this year, an 11-5 record and some hardware — a VIC title plaque.

 

“They’ve been through some hard times obviously, but they’ve stuck together and never really given up on each other,” said Blue Ridge coach John Hetzel, who was elevated to the top spot in the summer of 2014 just before Ford and others entered as freshmen and sophomores. “So it’s definitely special that they brought it together and had a great season.”

 

The squad’s captains Ford, Ty Ewen, Connor Coleman, Justin Armwood and Marcus Valeiras is representative of how the Barons have blended lacrosse-focused athletes like with athletes like football’s Armwood and basketball’s Valeiras. Those players’ state championship pedigrees clearly had an impact on the lacrosse team.  

 

“There’s no doubt about that, some athletes from other sports have come in from other sports and were huge,” Hetzel said. “The fact that they’ve had championship seasons, it shows because they know what it takes to win and their character and dedication rubs off on the other guys.”

 

Valeiras and Armwood combined for seven ground balls on the defensive end.

 

Blue Ridge jumped out to an 11-3 lead on North Cross in the first half. An early run in particular gave the Barons a huge leg up. Building a lead against the Raiders is critical.

 

“North Cross is a good team and they’re disciplined and if you’re behind them you don’t want to be there,” Hetzel said. “They’ll take the life out of the game and just sit on it. They’re really good at it, you don’t want to put yourself in that position.”

 

The Barons offense didn’t have to force anything really either, it came down to whoever was open as Blue Ridge moved the ball efficiently and effectively. When the Barons are clicking like that with their firepower they can be tough to stop.

 

“It’s really fun to be a part of because everyone is getting a turn,” Ford said.

 

Ford poured in six goals and three assists for the Barons in a high-octane offensive performance. Ewen, who earned VIC player of the year honors and is a Queens commit, had five goals, four assists and three ground balls. Coleman, who’s headed to Tusculum next year to play lacrosse had two goals and seven ground balls. Christian Gutilla had two goals and an assist. Iceysis Lewis took just one shot but buried it for a goal.

 

In the second half, Blue Ridge managed to do some clock melting of its own while the defense held up, with goalie Connor Modd ringing up 16 saves. The defense did a solid job of creating some key turnovers, helping the squad overcome a 50/50 split on faceoffs.

 

Blue Ridge may not get a chance to play for a state title because a loaded VISAA Division I likely leaves them on the outside looking in, but they finished in fine fashion with the win over the Raiders.

 

When you stick together, good things tend to happen.

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