By MITCHELLE STEPHENSON, For The Capital
Last week, the boys' varsity lacrosse team at South River High School won the state championship with an 11-6 victory over Urbana. But for a half-dozen of the school's players, it wasn't their first state championship. Five years ago, some of the boys were state champions in their recreation-division league while playing for the Davidsonville Athletic Association.
Back in 2004, the five then-seventh-graders: David Balinsky, Sam McElvey, Brandan George, Drew Lee and Alex Carros and then-sixth-grader Mike LaPaglia were all playing for their local recreation league. Because of the groupings for lacrosse, the sixth-and seventh-grade teams are the most competitive - eighth- and ninth-graders are grouped together, and the top ninth-grade players typically play junior varsity for their high school.
At the 2004 county championship, they beat Crofton, and then went on to play Towsontown in Baltimore County for the state title.
The boys said the key to their success then as now is that they work well together.
Jon Swerdloff coached the Davidsonville boys' team from the time they were in first and second grade until they won the state recreation-league championship in 2004. "It was a very special group. They liked each other and they played well together," Jon said.
He noted that the boys' lacrosse club at Davisonville hasn't won the state title since then.
The teamwork and ability to communicate with one another is a theme the boys echoed in a recent interview.
David said that their key to success both this year and back in seventh grade was that they "know each other and play well together."
"Teamwork helps a lot," Brandan said.
Their 2009 high school victory capped a great year for South River High lacrosse. Their team went undefeated amongst county public schools. Their division 4A/3A playoff marked the final game for Maryland's largest public high schools.
In both playoffs, then and now, Sam said that the key to their success was "really hard work." But he also credited the gifted players. "You don't get the level of talent we had this year every year."
Sam, the co-captain of the team, is an All-Met, All-County player. He's a top-ten finalist for the Kelly Award, which will be presented at the C. Markland Kelly Foundation banquet at the beginning of June.
For the parents, who have bonded over shared losses - but mostly victories - the win this year also marked the end of an era.
"We're so excited for them," Kristi Miller, Sam's mom, said. "The chemistry between the kids, the coaches and the parents - it is such a wonderful group to be a part of," she added.
While the 2004 victory was exciting for the boys, this year's win marked the end of an era. While some will play lacrosse in college, they're mostly taking divergent paths. A couple will stay local and attend community college, while others are off to four-year schools. Mike is a junior, so he'll have a final year at South River.
No matter what, the boys will always have their state championships to bond them.
"The win was definitely the cherry on top of the senior year," Brandan said.
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