Southeast Notebook: Two Florida Players Join The 400 Club

The end of the season is fast approaching with Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Louisiana getting deeper in their playoffs while Kentucky gets postseason play underway this week.

Player Highlight

MJ McMahon from Cardinal Mooney (Fla.). Photo courtesy Cardinal Mooney lacrosse

Cardinal Mooney (Fla.) senior attackman and Utah signee MJ McMahon has been a leader for the Cougars all season long. This past week McMahon surpassed 400 career points as his high school career came to an end with a quarterfinal loss against Jupiter (Fla.).

In the regional finals against Baron Collier (Fla.) last Tuesday McMahon tallied six points (3G,3A) to help lead his team to victory and reach 404 career points.

Despite losing in overtime in the quarterfinals to Jupiter (Fla.), McMahon tallied seven points (2g,5a) to end his high school career with 411 career points.

Team of The Week

Brentwood (Tenn.) came into the playoff last week with an overall record of 11-4 and earned the No. 4 seed in the Division I Public School playoffs.

The Bruins are now final four bound after beating West Knoxville 11-4 in the second round to move on to the semifinals.

Storyline of The Week

The biggest storyline across the South last week came out of Florida where Jupiter (Fla.) rallied back in the last few minutes against Cardinal Mooney (Fla.) to force overtime and eventually win the game.

Miles Jones led the way for the Warriors with five points (4g,1a) in the win. Trevor Sousa also contributed three goals as well.

Jupiter moves onto the semifinals where they will face perennial favorite Ponte Vedra (Fla.). The Warriors head back to the state semifinals in hopes they can defend their state title from last season.

Eye-Opening Performance

Hoggard (N.C.) senior attackman and Wingate commit Scout Philip had another excellent performance to help lead his team to victory over Millbrook (N.C.) in the first round of the tournament. Philip scored four goals in Hoggard's 13-8 win over Millbrook that sent them to the second round of the

State Tournament Central

Across the South, state tournaments rule the high school lacrosse scene with almost every state at least one week into the playoffs. Kentucky is the last state to start the playoff as both leagues kick off the postseason this week.

In Florida, the FHSAA final four has been set after the second round and quarterfinals were played last week. In the semifinals on Friday Ponte Vedra (Fla.) will take on Jupiter (Fla.) and St. Thomas Aquinas (Fla.) will play Bishop Moore (Fla.)

In Georgia, both the 6A-7A and the 1A-5A playoffs both start second round play this week. In the 6A-7A playoffs, the favorite Lambert (Ga.) will take on Allatoona (Ga.) in the second round. Another notable second-round matchup is that of Centennial (Ga.) versus Roswell (Ga.). Starr's Mill (Ga.) is one of the top dogs in the 1A-5A playoffs, and they will take on Benedictine (Ga.) in the second round this week.

In the NCHSAA 1A-3A playoffs, it's been very chalky through the first round as Weddington (N.C.) and East Chapel Hill (N.C.) both dominated in the first round to move on, as well as other top seeds. The 4A playoffs will see a few top matchups in round two with Mill Creek (N.C.) playing Hoggard (N.C.) and Cardinal Gibbons (N.C.) taking on Wakefield (N.C.).

Tennessee started their playoffs last week as they have four champions with a Public and Private DI and DII tournament. In the Private DI tournament semifinals, Montgomery Bell Academy (Tenn.) will meet Memphis University School (Tenn.) while McCallie School (Tenn.) will game Christian Brothers (Tenn.). The semifinals have now been set for all divisions of the TSLA now.

In Louisiana, the LHSLL final four has been set. St. Paul's (La.) will make their third straight trip and face Caddo Magnet (La.) while Brother Martin (La.) will play Catholic (La.).

The playoffs in Kentucky will start this week with the KSLL district tournaments and the Commonwealth League state tournament. In the KSLL Trinity (Ky.) and St. Xavier (Ky.) come in as the favorites once again, and in the Commonwealth League the two finalists from last season, Lexington Catholic (Ky.) and Henry Clay (Ky.) come in a number one seeds.