Playoffs? For area lacrosse teams, quest for championship starts now

Let’s make a little magic, shall we?

Though obviously not expecting things to play out in a certain fashion, the cards were drawn just right for area lacrosse teams to make a little history.

Eight local clubs will participate in the Tuesday’s opening round of the state lacrosse playoffs, with half that total playing host.

Carolina Forest (10-5) has a home date with Byrnes in a Class 5A opening round contest.

Seniors are at the heart of this operation, with standout Joe Venazio scoring 60 goals and assisting on 26 more. Matt Sampollo has 22 goals and 14 assists on the season, while Logan Thibodeau hit the back of the net 20 times himself.

At the Class 4A level, St. James (10-6) will play host to Academic Magnet.

For the Sharks, it is a trio of juniors leading the way, as Thomas Atchison, Tyler Burgess and Brandon Mitchell have combined for 74 goals thus far. They will have to contend with Academic Magnet’s freshman scoring tandem of Chap Hodges and Hampton Gehlken.

Gehlken leads the team with 41 goals, while Hodges has 31 goals matched with 26 assists.

In another Class 4A boys matchup, Myrtle Beach (3-7) will travel south on U.S. 17 for a first round playoff tilt with Waccamaw (12-2). The Warriors won both of the team’s previous matchups this season, outscoring Myrtle Beach 32-4.

Hanes Grafe’s 64 goals is a team high, while fellow junior Carson Homnick has scored 27 of his own to go along with 24 assists.

On the girls’ side, undefeated St. James takes on Myrtle Beach (3-6) for the third time this season. The Sharks (11-0) have yet to allow a goal to their rivals up U.S. 17, outscoring the Seahawks 38-0.

Sarah Bryson’s 57 goals pace St. James, with three other players scoring better than 25 goals in Kaitlin Weiss, Reagan Parr and Sophie Lesando.

Waccamaw (8-6) will travel to the southern end of the South Carolina coast, traveling to Bluffton.

Celie Anderson leads the Warriors with 46 goals, with May May Henry following her up with 26.

Carolina Forest (7-5) will also be making quite the trip, heading to Fort Mill for a first round tilt with Nation Ford.

Lee Adi leads a balanced attack for the Panthers with 28 goals. Isabella DiMarino and Abigail Gross each have scored 24 goals, while Gabby Koseroski has hit the back of the net 22 times.

This story was originally published April 17, 2017 at 4:13 PM with the headline "Playoffs? For area lacrosse teams, quest for championship starts now."