It was a dream come true as Braylon Lumb cleaned up when the junior A Victoria Shamrocks handed out their awards last month.
The Cowichan Valley Lacrosse Association product walked away with three major awards: Most Valuable Player, leading scorer and best-conditioned player.
“I always wanted to play for the Shamrocks growing up, so in my last year, winning all these awards is amazing,” Lumb said.
Lumb led the Shamrocks and the B.C. Junior A Lacrosse League with 57 goals and 103 assists in 21 games. His 46 assists were the league’s fifth-highest total, and he also contributed 13 powerplay goals, six shorthanded goals and five game-winners. He still didn’t fully expect to be named MVP.
“It was a close call with Marshal King,” Lumb said. “Me and him have been playing together forever. I thought he had a good chance as well.”
Shamrocks head coach Terry Dennett lauded Lumb’s play this past season.
“He plays differently than anyone else,” Dennett said. “He likes to play inside and he takes big hits to get inside. He never quits.
“A lot of guys play perimeter, but he plays inside. He’s a coach’s dream. He works for every goal. Of all his goals this year, I bet only four or five were outside shots. I’ve coached him for five years, and he’s been like that since day one.”
Always a go-to player on the floor — someone who can play on the faceoff unit, the powerplay, and who a coach wants on the floor in the dying minutes of a game — Lumb took his game to a new level this year.
“Last year, he was great,” Dennett said. “This year, he’s been unbelievable.”
After a year or two where he knew he wasn’t at his best, Lumb came into the 2018 season ready to enjoy himself, and it worked.
“I struggled the last couple of years with my confidence,” he admitted. “This year, I had a smile on my face. It was the most fun I ever had playing lacrosse. The points came from having fun.
“I wanted to give it my all. I tried super hard in the off-season. I wanted to have a kick-ass year for my last year.”
Dennett could tell that Lumb was enjoying himself this year.
“He’s a happy kid,” the coach said. “He loves lacrosse. He’s a breed of his own, is what it comes down to. He wears his heart on his sleeve. He plays with a lot of emotion.”
Lumb played three full seasons with the Shamrocks, and a few games as a call-up from intermediate before that, finishing his career with 64 games played, 114 goals, 92 assists and 206 points.
The ‘Rocks finished fourth in the BCJALL this season, with 13 wins, seven losses and one tie, then were swept by the Coquitlam Adanacs in three games in the first round of the playoffs.
The senior A Shamrocks called Lumb up for their playoff run two years ago. Although he didn’t play with the big club last year, he could get the call again this year. The senior Shamrocks start the playoffs on Wednesday, taking on the Nanaimo Timbermen.
Lumb is a shoo-in to be picked early in the senior A Western Lacrosse Association draft next February. National Lacrosse Association teams have also been scouting the Shamrocks, and there has been talk of him going in the NLL draft in September.
“He could go really high,” Dennett said. “He could play in the NLL right now. Braylon’s lacrosse career is up to him.”
Lumb has been studying civil engineering at Camosun College, but that pursuit might get put on hold if he gets drafted into the NLL.
“I’ve got my whole life to get an education,” he said. “I’ll just worry about playing sports right now.”
kevin.rothbauer@cowichanvalleycitizen.comLike us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter
