ROUNDUP : Corona del Mar Wins Tournament

Corona del Mar’s cast of characters played their roles to perfection as the Sea King water polo team edged Long Beach Wilson, 10-9, in the finals of the South Coast tournament on Saturday at Newport Harbor.

Thad Buzolich and Adam McFarland used their strong defensive skills to stop Wilson’s interior offense.

Neil Hueston fed one teammate after another with accurate, intelligent passes and James Palda made the big plays when the Sea Kings needed a shot in the arm down the stretch.

But it was goalkeeper Doug Jetton who really stood out, holding the high-powered Wilson offense to two goals in the second and third quarters.

“He’s a great goalkeeper, one of the top goalkeepers in CIF,” Coach John Vargas said.

Wilson jumped to a 3-1 lead with 2 minutes 31 seconds left in the first quarter, but was virtually silenced until a late run put pressure on the Sea Kings.

After Hueston opened the fourth quarter with a penalty-shot goal to give Corona del Mar a 9-5 lead, Wilson cut the lead to 9-7 with 2:49 remaining.

That’s when Palda made the first of two important plays, freeing himself in close and beating goalkeeper Nick Hill for a 10-7 lead.

Pat Cochran then took a feed from Adam Wright and cut the Sea Kings’ lead to two and when Cochran forced a steal on the other end, it appeared as if Wilson had regained its momentum.

However, Palda stole the ball back with a minute left and the Sea Kings held on for the victory.

Palda led Corona del Mar with three goals and Kevin Tucker and Buzolich scored twice.

Wilson, which took over the top spot in Division I after the Sea Kings lost to Foothill in its season-opener nine days ago, only got one goal from Wright as he was effectively defended in the three-meter position.

In other games:

Costa Mesa 10, Esperanza 8--James Comfort, Robert Grayeli and Steve Popov each scored three goals and Justin Taylor had 18 saves for Costa Mesa (6-3) in the consolation round.

Esperanza 10, Marina 8--Mike Stanley scored four goals and Jason Mericle and John Zinn each added two to lead Esperanza (5-4) in the consolation round. Erik Larson returned from the hospital after being poked in the eye in an earlier game, and scored four goals for Marina (6-4).

In the championship of the Rowland Heights Rowland tournament:

La Serna 9, Brea Olinda 7--La Serna (9-1), the top-ranked team in Division III, defeated Brea-Olinda (7-1) in the championship.

The Wildcats were led by the strong play of Tim Bischel, who had 14 saves and a total of 31 in the last two games.

In the semifinal, Eric Matthews and Tad Murphy each scored three goals as Brea-Olinda (7-0) defeated Rowland Heights Rowland, 9-6.