National High School Lacrosse Notebook: Canyon Birch Leads New Jersey

This week’s national notebook highlights Canyon Birch who became New Jersey’s all-time leading scorer. Also this week, the first champions of 2019 are crowned and a new 400 Club member.

New Jersey’s New Leader

Canyon Birch (8) joined the 300 Club during his junior season at Mansaquan (N.J.). Photo by Mike Loveday

Canyon Birch became New Jersey’s all-time leading scorer with a seven-point game against Rumson-Fair Haven (N.J.) on April 27. The Manasquan (N.J.) senior broke Matt Poskay’s 17-year old record of 468 career points.

Birch finished the game with a career total of 473 points and appears likely to become the first player in New Jersey history to score 500 career points.

Birch has been on a tear this season. He is averaging 8.4 points per game, the highest in his career and almost a point more than last season when he finished with 175 points and broke the state’s single-season scoring record.

The Penn State commit is not done setting records either. With 331 career goals he could break Poskay’s state record in that category. Poskay scored 362 goals for A.L. Johnson from 1999 to 2002. Birch has 57 goals this season and scored 123 as a junior.

History in Manasquan! Congrats to @canyon_birch on becoming NJ's all-time leading scorer in boys lax. Watch the highlights and post-game reaction of Squan's 13-2 win vs. RFH now ????????https://t.co/ZXUMalEYyF@SquanAthletics @PennStateMLAX @GoPSUsports @LaxRecords @UALacrosse pic.twitter.com/HZ24oBa2N8

— Jersey Sports Zone (@JSZ_Sports) April 28, 2019

400 Club

Ben Hull from Kennesaw Mountain (Ga.) reached 400 career points on April 26. The Michigan commit notched his 97th goal of the season to reach the milestone.

Congratulations to junior @benhull1112 for scoring his 400th career point tonight while scoring 97 goals this season. @LaxRecords @UMichLacrosse @KMHSLax pic.twitter.com/s9SHotCTex

— Jimmy Whittemore (@coachwhitt44) April 27, 2019

Six Straight and First

Episcopal School of Dallas (Texas) won its sixth consecutive Southwest Preparatory Conference (SPC) championship with a 14-6 win over St. Mark’s (Texas) on Saturday.

The title is also head coach Jay Sothoron’s first as ESD’s head coach.

Drew Wasserman and Blair William each scored three goals in the championship victory.

The Streak is Over And Another Begins

South Carolina crowed the first champions of 2019 with Oceanside Collegiate (S.C.) and Fort Mill (S.C.) winning their respective state championships on Saturday, April 27.

In what could be considered an upset, Fort Mill ended the championship streak of Wando (S.C.) with a 13-8 victory. Wando entered the game as the four-time defending champion and had not lost a championship game since 2014 when they lost to Fort Mill.

Fort Mill won its third state championship in program history and the first for head coach Parker Thomas who took over the program in 2018. Thomas played on the Yellow Jacket’s first championship team in 2011, scoring 112 points as a senior.

Zack Terry had six goals and Trenton Wiley added five for the Yellow Jackets.

In the 4A championship game, Oceanside Collegiate won its second consecutive title with a 16-5 win over Bishop England (S.C.). The Landsharks are only in their second year as a varsity program and have won both Class 4A championships.

Head Coach Tom Harris has helmed both championship teams.

“We took care of the ball, and that was key for us,” Harris told the Post and Courier. “We did some good things out there. We did what we have to do to win, pass the ball and take the best shots. Really proud of the way we played. I thought we showed what we were capable of today.”