MCLA Basketball Mourns the Passing of Ernst Larochel Jr.

The Trailblazers mourned the passing of Ernst Larochel Jr. this past weekend. Larochel was laid to rest after passing away suddenly on July 20^th.

Larochel was recruited by MCLA head coach Jamie Morrison and enrolled in MCLA this past January. Ernst was preparing for the upcoming season which would have been his first with the Trailblazers when he was stricken.

Larochel was a three-sport athlete at Malden high school and played basketball for Coach Donald Nally. Larochel and current Trailblazer Ramon Viches were high school teammates and both graduated from Malden in 2010.

Coach Jamie Morrison had this to say "It's devastating for our program to lose Ernst. Ernst is such a great person and as a player reminded me a lot of myself coming out of high school. I think that's why I had such a good relationship with him. He was a defensive standout and that was his greatest strength, but you just had the feeling that he had a late-blooming offensive game. I know how much this team meant to him already; and how hard he was working this off-season. He was going to make an impact for us this year on the court; but his loss is felt so much more among the Trailblazers because he was an important friend, a motivated, goal oriented student and a good person. The MCLA basketball team offers his family and the Malden community our condolences for their loss. He will be missed greatly."