(Photo Courtesy of Luke Vance)
Welcome to the 2024 KY High School Recap series. Throughout the summer Lacrosse Bucket will be recapping some of the top teams from the 2024 high school lacrosse season in Kentucky.
In this fourth article in the series, we stay in Lexington and take a look at the CLL runner-up Henry Clay Blue Devils.
Head Coach: Ben Ternosky
Record: 13-8
League: CLL
Key Players
Jonah Brooking (A, Sr.), Grady Browne (A, Sr.), Connor Rode (D, Sr.), Will Kite (D, So.), Grayson Pham (FO, Sr.), Noah Young (G, So.), Arlo Johnson (G, Fr.)
Key Graduations
Jonah Brooking (A, Sr.), Grady Browne (A, Sr.), Connor Rode (D, Sr.), Grayson Pham (FO, Sr.)
2024 Season Summary
It was a slow start for the Blue Devils as they held a 4-5 record entering the month of April. However, Henry Clay would go 9-3 through the remainder of the season. Only two of those losses would come to Kentucky teams, including a 13-10 CLL title game loss to Woodford County. The Blue Devils went 1-1 against Frederick Douglass during that stretch, losing the regular season meeting 6-5 before topping the Broncos 7-6 in OT in the CLL semifinals.
Riding behind a number of impactful seniors and especially so at the attack position, Henry Clay continued to be one of the best teams in Lexington and the CLL.
Senior Jonah Brooking headlined the Blue Devils’ squad with a 123-point season. One of the best pure shooters in the Commonwealth, Brooking scored 94 goals on the year and was the biggest difference maker for and offense that averaged 12 goals per game. Fellow senior Grady Browne proved to be a solid quarterbacking attackman for the Blue Devils. He tallied 50 assists and 37 goals for 87 points. The Bronwe-Brooking connection led that offense.
Grayson Pham was a major impact for the Blue Devils at the faceoff dot and helped provide regular possession advantages. The veteran went 191-for-299 (63.9%) at the faceoff dot on the year. Another senior impact player for the Blue Devils was defenseman Connor Rode who proved to the their top pole, grabbing 73 ground balls and causing 42 turnovers.
Where the Blue Devils were the youngest was in the cage. Sophomore Noah Young served as the team’s main goalie for most of the season. He made 113 saves with a 45% save percentage. Freshman Arlo Johnson started in the CLL semifinals and championship game. Looking solid and confident in both, he combined for 12 saves in those two games.
Early Future Outlook
Henry Clay will enter next spring with some significant holes to fill. The biggest of those come on the offensive end with the loss of both Brooking and Browne. Those graduations have Henry Clay needing to replace 51% of its scoring and 52% of their overall offensive production. Holes are also left at the faceoff dot and defense with Pham and Rode also gone.
A lot of that youth from last spring can be expected to step up and help fill those gaps. That includes Max Thayer who had 37 points as a freshman. Defenseman Will Kite, as well as the youth in cage, should be part of that development as well.
Heading into the KHSAA era, much of the same should be expected from the hierarchy of Kentucky high school lacrosse. That bodes well for Henry Clay as the Blue Devils can be expected to continue to churn out one of the better teams year after year.
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