Metro Detroit high school lacrosse notebook: Grosse Pointe South girls off to hot start

Grosse Pointe South’s Lyla Hampton, right, cradles the ball during practice on Tuesday, April 28, 2026 at the school in Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich.

Much of the time Hampton is seeing double or even triple-teams throughout games, but that has seemingly been no problem. In a 15-8 victory over White Lake Lakeland, Hampton was face guarded and double-teamed and still managed to score nine goals.

“They’re trying, and she has just become a player that says, ‘Yeah, I wish you the best of luck with that,’” Shaun Hampton said.

Sophomore goalie Jordan LeBlanc has also been one of the key players for Grosse Pointe South and is off to a strong start to her high school career. In the victory over White Lake Lakeland, LeBlanc held an Ohio State-commit attacker to only four goals.

Grosse Pointe South’s Jordan LeBlanc blocks a shot on goal during practice on Tuesday, April 28, 2026 at the school in Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich.

“She is by far the best 2028 goalie in the state of Michigan, but she may very well be one of the best goalies individually in the state,” Hampton said. “She’s young, she clears the ball well, she saves the ball well.”

Senior midfielder Stella Fry has been a standout for Grosse Pointe South as well, posing a dominant one-two punch alongside Lyla Hampton.

“She’s kind of sneaky, super fast and dominant on the ground balls for us,” Shaun Hampton said. “It’s her speed and her intelligence and her maturity. She doesn’t hit a lot of the stats in regards to the goals side or assists side, but she’s running up and down the field getting the ground balls and playing a really good version of defense. She’s active and vocal on the communicative side.”

Grosse Pointe South’s Stella Fry scoops the ball during practice on Tuesday, April 28, 2026 at the school in Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich.

Clarkston boys take it one game at a time

The Clarkston boys' record is 4-6, but the record doesn’t show the strength of their schedule and how they have approached each matchup.

Head coach Brian Kaminskas said the schedule difficulty was increased for Clarkston this season. The team uses it as no excuse, rather the losses against strong opponents is believed to set the team up for more success down the road.

“We approach every game as that’s the only game on the schedule,” Kaminskas said. “If we’re going to take a loss, obviously we want to take it to a better team. But it doesn’t bother us, we’re going to make the playoffs either way.”

Clarkston is quite a young team compared to last year's senior-heavy team, which has been an issue for Kaminskas to navigate. He said the team is only averaging three seniors a game while 90% of the in-game players are sophomores and juniors.

The big positives for Clarkston have been on the attacking side. Two of the seniors play on attack and Kaminskas said the experience and leadership is most notable on that end.

“We rely on our offensive group to kind of set the tempo, control the game and let [young players] get some good playing experience and some time to adjust to what’s happening in the games.” Kaminskas said.

One of the few seniors, Lucas Diton, has been a bright spot for Clarkston on the offensive end. Diton is third on the team in goals with 18 while leading in assists with 31, averaging 3.1 per game. Diton also leads the team in points.

Charlie Formaro has been the go-to man for ground balls for Clarkston, leading the team with 37 while averaging 3.7 a game. Formaro also is a face-off player for Clarkston as one of the few seniors on the roster.

Kaminskas said one of Formaro’s stellar performances this season was when he won 60% of his faceoffs in a 13-12 loss to Birmingham Seaholm.

Parker Royce completes Clarkston's senior trio as one of its leading attackers. Royce leads the team with 29 goals, while tallying 25 ground balls through the first ten games.

Kaminskas has high expectations for each of the seniors. As being a part of the winning teams of the past years, the standard of Clarkston lacrosse has to be strongly held up by them.

“We’ve got a set list of non-negotiables,” Kaminskas said. “One of those is to leave it better than you’ve found it. We expect that to sort of apply to all aspects of life. Another is to watch your legacy. You know, we could be 4-4 but I think in part of the seniors’ minds is that 4-4 doesn’t really matter as long as we’re holding the standards of work and effort. And those are the guys that push and drive that.”

Doug Doty is a freelance writer.

This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Metro Detroit high school lacrosse notebook: Grosse Pointe South girls off to hot start