Boys’ Water Polo Preview: Hoover seeking more Pacific League dominance
It took nearly three decades, yet the Hoover High boys’ water polo team finally won an elusive Pacific League championship.
Backed by a solid core of seniors, the Tornadoes won the league title for the first time since 1989.
Hoover doesn’t want to go another 28 years in between titles. A second straight league crown is a paramount goal for Hoover, which doesn’t figure to be short on talent under coach Kevin Witt.
“We had a great group of guys, all of whom knew their roles,” said Witt, whose team went undefeated in league and reached the second round of the CIF Southern Section Division II playoffs last season. “For the guys coming back, I think they learned from that and they know what’s expected of them.
“It will be interesting to see how they respond and I’m curious to see how I handle it. I expect Crescenta Valley and Burroughs to be tough once again. We’re still the defending champions, so I think we might have that slight edge.”
Hoover lost attacker Harout Ashkharian, the reigning All-Area Boys’ Water Polo Player of the Year, to graduation, along with goalkeeper Jonathan Salandi, attacker Aren Sukiasyan and utility players Levon Haik Gukasyan and Levon Gukasyan.
Stepping in will be junior drivers David Ashkharian and Armando Honarchian, junior two-meter Jordan Corpuz and sophomore Hayk Nazarian. Ashkharian picked up All-Area honors after tallying 85 goals last season.
“All of these guys are capable of having big seasons,” Witt said. “We definitely still have plenty of talent.”
Following CIF realignment, Hoover will play in a combined Division I and II format that features 27 squads on a watch list. The top 10 teams are ranked. By the completion of the regular season, teams ranked in the top eight will be in the Division I postseason, while the remaining 19 squads will shift to Division II.
Flintridge Prep captured the Prep League championship for the third straight season, splitting it with Brentwood and Chadwick before moving on to the Division IV playoffs.
A couple of things will be different for the Rebels in their quest to repeat. Flintridge Prep coach Dan Hare resigned and handed over the duties to Andrew Phillips, who was Hare’s assistant last season. The Rebels will now compete in Division V.
“We’re going to have eight seniors, so there’s plenty of experience to go around,” Phillips said. “It’s just about finding ways to keep getting better and doing things like running our offense the right way and learning how to find openings on defense against the opponent.
“I think we have a great opportunity to get some good things done. They’ve tasted some league glory and they want more.”
The Rebels return a talented core featuring senior utility Kasen Barraclough, senior goalkeeper Conrad Oakes, senior driver/hole-guard Aidan Schraeder and sophomore driver Hakop Kaplanyan. Barraclough finished with 79 goals and 74 steals en route to being selected the league’s co-most valuable player and picking up All-Area recognition last season.
Crescenta Valley placed third in the Pacific League last season and qualified for the Division II playoffs. The Falcons will return to Division IV.
Crescenta Valley will turn to senior driver David Komjathy, an All-Area pick who finished with 53 goals and 84 steals, to provide offense following the graduation of Reagan Hesse (108 goals last season). He will be joined by senior driver Noah Kim and junior driver Bodoe Wyss.
The Falcons will also return senior goalkeeper Hakop Artsvelian and senior Kurtis McNevin.
“We like the make-up of our team and we have some players with quite a bit of experience,” Crescenta Valley coach Jan Sakonju said. “We just need to play some matches together and we’ll be in three tournaments that will help us get ready for league.
“I think the league will be a bit more balanced. You know going in nobody will be handing you anything, so we’ll have to be prepared at all times.”
Glendale took fifth in the Pacific League last season.
The Nitros, who will be in Division VI after being in Division VII last season, will be paced by senior hole/set Vachik Gharibyan, senior utility Nicholas Schmitt and sophomore goalkeeper Ronald George. Gharibyan and Schmitt were bestowed with all-league recognition last season after finishing with 47 and 44 goals, respectively.
“I think we have more leadership now than we did the last year or two,” Glendale coach Narek Vardanyan said. “We’ve seen signs of progress being made at practice and we’ll see how that translates heading in to the season.”
At St. Francis, the Golden Knights will begin their second season as a varsity squad. St. Francis, which competes in the Mission League, will be in Division VI.
“I think we learned so much about ourselves,” St. Francis coach Brady Lowermilk said. “It was a great experience and we found ourselves in some close games against some very good teams.
“Now that they have the experience, they have a much better idea of what to expect. We’ll be playing some excellent teams in and out of league and we’ll have a much better idea of where we stand.”
St. Francis will bring back senior wing Dante Valle, junior wing John Balog and junior hole/set Maclean Ireland and sophomore goalkeeper Cole Marston.
Twitter: @TCNCharlesRich
