The Davis High girls junior varsity lacrosse team gave a commanding performance on April 30 in a 12-8 win over Bella Vista on a very windy day. Then last Friday, the Blue Devils came from behind to tie Granite Bay, 7-7.

DHS was down early in the first half against Bella Vista, but managed to come back behind freshmen Sarah Sherwin and Hannah Denton, who each scored four goals.

The Devil defense — paced by Emily Lopez-Ichikawa, among others — was brilliant. Davis coach Lisa Branch called the win a team effort and liked that her girls showed nice transitions in the midfield and patience on offense.

On the road at Granite Bay, the locals rallied in the second half to take a 7-6 lead with just two minutes to play.

Julia Zabala and Elli Meinert each had hat tricks for the Blue Devils, Sherwin added a goal of her own and controlled the draw in the second half, while Denton had two assists.

In that second half, freshman Isabella Babich and the rest of the DHS defense came up big to help the team battle back. However, the Grizzlies managed to slip one in late to tie the game.

For the season, Branch said she was proud of the improvement of the Devils, who featured 19 girls who had never played the sport before.

DHS JV boys lacrosse

Though the results weren’t ideal, the Blue Devils played some of their best lacrosse of the season in a pair of losses last week — one a 9-8 overtime heartbreaker against Jesuit.

On the road with the Marauders on Tuesday, the first quarter started with strong defensive play by DHS freshman defender Jake Griffiths, who refused to let Jesuit get near the goal. Freshman long-pole Hunter Harris, sophomore defender Riley Swift and freshman midfielder Connor Amesbury also contributed on grounders and clears.

After the Marauders scored the game’s first goal with eight seconds left in the first quarter, they started the second with another goal. But Devil 10th-grader Jackson Herget quickly answered unassisted before sophomores Jed Arvin and Isaiah West teamed up to tie it at 2-2.

As the back-and-forth continued, Davis goalie Connor Spann got busy with some saves, sophomore midfielder Jake Guida sped downfield for a solo clear and, when Jesuit frustrated the offense again, sophomore attacker Josh Rix pushed back. Goals by Arvin and West gave the locals a 4-3 halftime lead.

In the third quarter, Arvin scored twice and Griffin McNamara found the net, but Jesuit answered with two goals.

Down 7-5 to start the fourth period, the Marauders ran off three straight to take the lead before a clear by local Brian Johnstone led to a Guida goal that tied it at 8-8 and forced overtime. Jesuit, however, got the game-winner.

In Friday’s home game, Granite Bay took a quick 6-0 lead but the Blue Devils bounced back with some of their best play of the spring.

DHS midfielder Tom Thornton picked up a key ground ball to put an end to the Grizzly streak before halftime, and the third quarter opened with Spann stopping a fast-break with a nice save.

The Devil defense continued to shine with Johnstone trapping a burly Grizzly ball-carrier on the sideline, then the team successfully killing a double-penalty situation. This defensive success inspired the local offense and six different players sent passes around the horn in rapid-fire succession to allow West to dodge in and get the Blue Devils on the scoreboard.

Meanwhile, Herget started winning face-offs and Guida made a leaping interception and later ran around the back of the net to score. McNamara tallied next, unassisted, and Arvin set up a Justin Reno goal to cut the Grizzly advantage to 8-4.

That was as close as DHS would come, but not because of lack of effort as sophomore midfielder Ben Heeren was strong on ground balls, Spann had back-to-back saves and late goals came from Arvin and West, who emerged from a mob of defenders to tally.

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DHS’ Vivi Kirsch (20), Abbey Meyer (14) and Hannah Denton (19) celebrate after one of Denton’s four goals in the Blue Devils’ recent 12-8 win over Bella Vista. Theresa Ratermann/Courtesy photo

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