Special to The Leader

Here’s a little quiz for Scarborough High School sports fans:

Which Red Storm boys varsity squad has two state titles to its name in the past three years and is gunning for a third this spring? 

Baseball?  No…  Soccer?  Nope …  Basketball?  Uh uh…

Three years ago a deep and talented group of freshmen joined the Scarborough High School boys lacrosse team with the goal of competing for at least one state championship during their career. Now seniors, the group has met and exceeded those hopes, having been part of two Class A State Championships, winning in 2006 and again last year. What’s next?

You won’t hear head coach Joe Hezlep talking repeat. 

“We want to beat the first team on the schedule,” Hezlep said. “That’s always our focus.”

The job won’t get easier, as the schedule has changed significantly since the introduction of a tiered lacrosse program in 2006. That year, the larger schools were grouped together without thought given to the quality of their program, so Scarborough joined Class A lacrosse stalwarts such as Portland and Cheverus, along with other teams with newer programs like Bonny Eagle and Marshwood.

With top caliber teams such as Yarmouth and Cape Elizabeth playing in Class B, Scarborough came out of nowhere to take the Western Maine title and then walloped Lewiston in the championship game to win the inaugural Class A title.

The Storm lost in the Western Finals to Portland in 2007, but returned to form last year, winning their second state crown in three years, in a come from behind victory over Brunswick.

The MPA has adjusted schedules each year, allowing teams with stronger squads to play each other, no matter what class they ultimately compete in for a title. The result is that this season the Red Storm will play perennial powerhouses Yarmouth, North Yarmouth Academy and Cape Elizabeth, along with games against traditional foes, Portland, Cheverus and Kennebunk.

All of which means that any success this year will be hard earned against top teams. Stumble, and Scarborough might not even make the playoffs.

Senior Brendan Ham knows what the challenge is. 

“We’re looking for another championship this year and to get it we need to win the big games against Portland, Yarmouth and Cape,” he said.

Fellow senior Jimmy Soules summed up his thoughts on the upcoming season this way; “We’ve got a great group of guys and I think if we can put it all together, we’ve got a very good shot [at another state championship].”

How has Scarborough achieved such success in so short a time period?

“The key to the Scarborough success has been their youth program,” according to Cape Elizabeth Athletic Director Jeff Thoreck. 

He should know – he was the first Red Storm varsity lacrosse coach 13 years ago, fresh from college and a high school lacrosse career at Cape Elizabeth.

“Like any competitive athletic program, it all starts with the youth program. They [Scarborough] have enough kids learning the basics there, and are able now to focus on the technical aspects of the game at the high school level, instead of just teaching passing and catching. Like a lot of the Scarborough athletic programs, the athletes are strong, they’re fast, they’re skilled, and when you package that together it makes for a pretty competitive lacrosse player and lacrosse team,” he said.

This is a talented team, but Portland, Cheverus, Brunswick, and other teams are not about to hand this year’s state title to the Red Storm without a fight. Hezlep said he knows he has strengths, but he points out that his team is not without its weaknesses as well.

“We have a cast of returning players this year that are the back bone of the team. But, like last year, we have a lot of guys who haven’t played many quality minutes before. We have a lot of holes to fill and we’ve got a bunch of guys vying for positions right now,” Hezlep said. “Our challenge is definitely our depth. Our junior class is very small, so we have a lot of sophomores we’re going to be looking to, especially at midfield, to step up.”

Hezlep said the key to how far Scarborough goes in this year’s campaign will be directly determined by his group of seniors and their leadership.

“Our strength is our senior leaders, guys who have been through it before. They have a lot of experience in big games and they’ve played well in big games, so we know they can handle it,” he said.

Seniors Jake Barrett and Danny Clark have played lacrosse together since first grade and both are looking forward to one more season before they move on to play collegiately at Siena next year, together. 

“We’d like to win a third championship in high school,” Barrett said. 

He is aware of the sentiment that top lacrosse teams (Yarmouth, NYA, Cape Elizabeth) reside in Class B and adds,  “We’d also like to have an undefeated season to show we can beat anyone in the state.”

“Last years playoff run was pretty sick, and we’d like to repeat that,” Clark said. He agrees with Barrett that, “a repeat championship and going undefeated would be fantastic.”

The Red Storm begin their title defense when they open their regular season at Falmouth on April 28.