Golden West Routs DeAnza, 21-8, to Reach State Water Polo Final

Craig Douglas scored six goals and teammate Scott Larsen had five Friday to lead Golden West College to a 21-8 victory over DeAnza in a semifinal of the state community college water polo tournament at Long Beach’s Belmont Plaza pool.

Golden West (23-5), which has won seven state championships, the most recent one in 1985, will play defending champion Long Beach for the title at 11 a.m. today in a matchup of the state’s two top-ranked teams. It will be the seventh time the teams have met this season; Long Beach has won four times.

Long Beach, which has won three state titles, has been the state’s No. 1-ranked team all season. The Vikings (24-2) advanced to the final with a 16-10 victory over Modesto earlier Friday at Belmont.

“This is where we wanted to be--in the finals,” said Ken Hamdorf, Golden West coach. “Last year we lost in the semifinals and had the door slammed in our face by Modesto. This year at least the door is wide open.”

Larsen, an all-American, scored on two back-handed shots in the first three minutes for Golden West. Douglas, also an all-American, then added two goals.

Larsen scored on another back-handed shot with 1:01 left in the first quarter as the Rustlers opened a 6-1 lead at the end of the quarter.

Golden West held a 9-2 halftime lead and was ahead, 15-4, after three quarters.

Golden West rested many of its starters in the final quarter, enabling reserve Ky Tran to score three goals.