6A boys lacrosse: Late rally sparks Corner Canyon by Davis for 5th straight title

HERRIMAN — The biggest difference between top-rated Corner Canyon and undefeated Davis in Friday's 6A boys lacrosse state championship turned out to be a senior-laden defense and a sophomore who couldn't stop scoring for a stretch.

Pierson Degracie scored three straight goals in the fourth quarter, and Corner Canyon held Davis to two second-half goals to clinch a fifth consecutive state championship 9-7 at Zions Bank Stadium.

Ashton Brown had a goal and three assists for the Chargers (19-1), who held Davis star Luke Donigan and his 83 goals scoreless for all 48 minutes.

"We made some adjustments at halftime, and defensively we just talked it through. That's the No. 1 thing: communication, and having faith in a really good senior class of defensemen," Corner Canyon coach Jeff King said. "Credit to Davis, their offense is really good — perhaps the best offense that we've played in the state this season. I'm really proud of them."

But with the history of four state titles in Utah's top classification — the only 6A champion since the Utah High School Activities Association sanctioned boys' lacrosse in 2020 — Corner Canyon had to feel the nerves of history, right?

"Yeah, but we've been here before," Degracie said. "We knew what to expect. We just had to display our game and keep going."

Nerves, sure. But this was a Corner Canyon team that knew how to handle nerves, with a senior class that had been touched by horrific tragedy twice with the deaths of former teammates AJ Leggett last fall and Paxton Newell a year earlier from brain cancer.

"They've been through a lot," King said. "They're just a tight-knit group of guys, and they come to work every day. Every day, they come to practice and they work their tails off."

Christian Bott broke a 3-all tie in the second quarter, and Ashton Wood found a cutting Rocky Edelman in transition with three seconds left in the half to give Davis a 5-3 halftime lead.

"We didn't have the greatest first half, and credit to Davis for making us make some errors that we don't typically make," King said. "Defensively, I think we buttoned it up for the second half. … And our offense took care of the ball. It makes all the difference.

"It's a team game, and sometimes you have to remind your team of that. Once they started playing like a team, it turned out the way it did."

Brock Sorenson and Luke Fisher tied the game at 5-all with 2:59 left in the third, and Easton Daynes scored off the ensuing faceoff seven seconds later to help the Chargers retake the lead.

Tied at 3-goals apiece, Rocky Edelman attempted an Air Gait but finished with an alley oop-like quick shot from Brek Jensen that gave the Darts (19-1) a 7-6 edge 18 seconds into the fourth quarter.

But Degracie, who averaged 2.2 goals per game for 37 goals before Friday, scored back-to-back-to-back goals to give the Chargers a 9-7 advantage with 2:32 remaining before the defense did the rest.

"Everyone kept their heads up, everyone knew we could do it," Degracie said. "We always knew we had the chance to get there. We just had to come together as a team, work through it, and come back."

Bott and Jensen both finished with two goals apiece for Davis.

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