Prep Playoffs at a Glance

SOUTHERN SECTION WATER POLO FINALS

* Today’s schedule: At Long Beach Belmont Plaza, Division I (8:15 p.m.)--Corona del Mar vs. Long Beach Wilson; Division II (5 p.m.)--Servite vs. Esperanza; Division III (3:30 p.m.)--Whittier La Serna vs. South Pasadena; Division VI (2 p.m.)--Brea-Olinda vs. Rowland Heights Rowland. At UC Santa Barbara, Division IV (3:15 p.m.)--Santa Barbara vs. Santa Barbara San Marcos. At Mira Loma Jurupa Valley High School, Division V (4 p.m.)--Riverside Poly vs. Jurupa Valley.

* Last year’s finish: Division I--El Toro 10, Corona del Mar 9 (OT); Division II--Riverside Poly 9, Sunny Hills 5; Division III--South Pasadena 12, Costa Mesa 11 (OT); Division IV--San Bernardino 18, Los Amigos 12.

* Outlook: Division I--Top-seeded Corona del Mar (22-4) and No. 3 Wilson (23-4) have much in common. Wilson Coach Ricardo Azevedo is the main assistant coach of the U.S. National team; Sea King Coach John Vargas is also a national team assistant. The teams have played four times this year, each winning two. They also each lost to Foothill and San Clemente. Wilson is led by driver Pat Cochran, who has scored 118 goals, two-meter man Adam Wright (94 goals) and two-meter defender Micah Miller. The Sea Kings are led by Neil Hueston (85 goals, 22 assists), James Palda (75 goals, 20 assists), Adam McFarland (63 goals, 62 steals) and Thad Buzolich (46 goals, 17 assists). Vargas has reached the final eight times in 12 years as the Sea Kings coach, winning four titles; Azevedo reached the final in 1990, losing to El Toro, 11-9.

Division II--Top-seeded Esperanza (20-7) and No. 2 Servite (22-7) are also quite familiar to each other. Many of the players from both sides compete for the club team run by Servite Coach Jim Sprague and Esperanza Coach Doug Kimberly. Servite was top-ranked for most of the season, but Esperanza won 16 of its last 17 games, including a 11-9 victory over Servite in the regular-season finale. The Friars are led by Jerry Smith (114 goals, 30 assists), Brian Heifferon (85 goals) and Rob Mattivi (70 goals, 21 assists). The Aztecs, who won the Division II title in 1992, are led by Mike Stanley (113 goals), Jason Mericle (67 goals) and John Zinn (45 goals, 59 assists).

Division VI--Brea-Olinda (25-4), the top-ranked team in the division from the beginning of the season, and third-seeded Rowland (23-6) each had never advanced beyond the quarterfinals of the water polo playoffs. Early this season, the Wildcats beat Rowland, 9-6, in the semifinals of the Rowland tournament. Brea-Olinda is led by Tad Murphy, who holds school scoring records for a single season (126) and a career (246), Eric Matthews (90 goals), two-meter defender Tucker Lowe and goalkeeper Tim Bischel, who has a goals-against average of five.