As many readers know I like to try to spread out coverage of the local high school teams as much as possible.  A few years ago Key West started their high school program and it intrigued me due to how far they have to travel for pretty much every road game.  For example, look at yesterday.  In order to get to the game in Coconut Creek they left around 9:45am, on a Wednesday (puts a lot of pressure on the kids to keep up in school I would think) . . . and with the issue of a massive storm front that was not guaranteed to allow the game to be played.  Four and a half hours later they pulled up to the NBP campus.  The game was originally slated for 5:00pm but to accommodate the long drive home the game was moved to 4:00pm. The game was started during the rain as the radar indicated the front was finally pushing through, and indeed the second half showed a cessation of the rain and even a glimmer of the sun coming out.  But unfortunately the 4:00pm start meant I was only able to cover the second half.     Whenever I cover a school for the first time I like to give a little historical flavor of that school but I have to say it’s not easy finding information about Key West.  Their Wiki page is easily the most sparse one I’ve ever seen.  No famous graduates, no athletic Hall of Fame, etc. . . . which is really unusual because the school has been around since 1906!!!  Not really sure what that means but it is a fact that I had a hard time finding anything to write about. I did get to talk to Coach Jake Luce, who moved to Key West a few years ago and basically found nirvana for a young lacrosse-dedicated person looking to build a program.  Put aside the allure of Key West in general . . . the laid back atmosphere (I won’t really go any further with that), the weather and the general ambiance.  Coach Luce told me that the community is really getting into the sport.  On a Friday the crowd can reach 200 for a home game . . . by the way coaches of other schools, there are dorms on campus so you can spend the night to make the trip worthwhile . . . and his youth program has about 150 kids according to him. Not a bad start to building the program.  Of course the travel to games IS a bear.  I think Coral Shores is the closest road game and that is probably about 90 minutes or more away.  But nothing’s perfect. Will be fun to watch how this continues to develop.     North Broward Prep is on the opposite side.  Founded in 1957, plenty of schools around them to compete with.  Bo Lamon is the head coach and he has been around lacrosse for much of his life. The two previous head coaches were current Stoneman head coach Ryan Burton and some guy named Casey Powell, who I hear was a pretty good player in his day.  The team was varsity for a number of years and then spent Casey’s year as an Independent.  Then two years ago they rejoined the varsity ranks. For some reason, their Wiki page is pretty sparse too, although recent Donut shop scourge Ariana Grande is a listed alum.  The school is also known for its’ hockey program under former NHLer Peter Worrell (those who have seen Peter play in the NHL know there is NO WAY I’m doing anything but praise him to the moon . . . you were my favorite Panther Peter!).  Baseball is also a focal point so Coach Lamon will need to compete with those programs for attention over time.     Both teams were undefeated going into the game, albeit against schedules that were not ranked among the state’s toughest.  NBP was coming off a big win over Calvary Christian in a district game and that was the toughest team either had faced so far, but undefeated is still undefeated and you can only beat the teams on the schedule so there was certainly a cachet to the matchup. Since I was only able to get there a few minutes before the half there’s no records of that but the first half ended with Key West leading 3-2, as both teams seemed to struggle with the wet conditions.     Key West came out hard in the third quarter as Kolby Kelleher put the Conchs up 4-2 at 8:02, as he started up top, split the defenders and his right hand found the mid right side of the net.  The lead was stretched to 5-2 at 4:30 as Colin Lutz picked off a clearing pass out on the left wing while on EMO, and he dashed towards the front, beating his defender to the crease before finishing high.  And KW pushed the lead to 6-2 with 1:04 left in the period as Josh McAlearney converted off a loose ball in front, as he hit the cage after a lengthy pass from the midfield sideline. Key West blew the game open early in the fourth with three goals within 70 seconds to make it 9-2, taking advantage of a 2-minute non-releasable  penalty on NBP for a dangerous contact to the helmet.  At 10:30 Christian McCain took a behind the net feed from Dean Wallen on the top right wing and his step down found the low left corner.  That was followed 30 seconds later by Kelleher walking in from the right wing and firing low, beating NBP goalie Nolan Friedman (who impressed me with his outlet passes).  And at 9:22 the run ended with a back and forth between Wallen and Lutz, as Lutz fed back to the left crease and Wallen found the low short side. Kosby Wonacott got NBP on the board with 6:01 left in the game as he dodged from the right wing to the middle and his left hand low to high shot found the top left corner.  Another EMO led to the final score as Carson Hughes took Wallen’s behind the net feed on the crease for the one-timer with 4:00 left to close out the game at 10-3 for the visitors. Key West with the solid road effort as NBP struggled to get it going. Key West is back in action on the 28th, hosting Westminster Christian, while NBP hosts a surging Pine Crest team on Friday.   2nd Half Stats Faceoffs:  KW 5-3 Shots:  KW 16-7 Shots on Goal:  KW 10-3 Turnovers:  NBP 15-9 Penalties:  NBP 6-1   Individual Statistics   Key West Dean Wallen – 1G/2A Kolby Kelleher  2G Colin Lutz  1G/1A Josh McAlearney, Christian McCain and Carson Hughes  1G each Joey Eppy with 2 save   NBP Kosby Wonacott 1G Nolan Friedman with 3 saves   Thanks to Coach Lamon and Coach Luce for talking after the game.