THE PREPS : WATER POLO / SOUTH COAST TOURNAMENT : Foothill Backs Up Its Top Ranking

It was hard to find any negativity on Saturday after Foothill defeated Newport Harbor, 11-8, to win its first South Coast water polo tournament final at Newport Harbor High.

The Knights, ranked No. 1 in Orange County and the Southern Section Division I polls, reaffirmed their ranking by winning the highly regarded tournament, which featured all the teams ranked in the Orange County boys’ poll.

Foothill led, 6-5, after three quarters, but broke it open with five fourth-quarter goals. Robby Arroyo scored four goals and Jeff Pflueger and Brian Brown added three each for Foothill (8-0).

Although Newport Harbor (4-2) faltered, Coach Bill Barnett was pleased the Sailors, ranked fifth in the county, reached the final for the first time in eight years.

“Our kids played well,” he said. “Foothill was favored to win here and they have to be considered the heavy favorite to win [the Southern Section Division I] championship.

“But there are six or seven teams that could win it.”

In the last two seasons, the South Coast tournament finalists met again in the Division I championship game.

“I hope that comes true,” Barnett said. “I think we’ll be in the hunt.”

Newport Harbor reached the final by ousting defending Division I champion Long Beach Wilson in the semifinals Saturday. Newport Harbor’s John Jones scored the game-winning goal in sudden-death overtime to give the Sailors a 7-6 victory.

In the other semifinal, Foothill defeated Villa Park, ranked third in the county, 9-6.

“You play five very tough teams in three days for this tournament,” Foothill Coach Jim Brumm said. “This was important for the kids’ confidence and it gave them some high school championship experience.”

Foothill will try to duplicate what El Toro did in 1992. That season, the Chargers won the South Coast tournament and the section title.

But the Knights will have to play better than they did early in the final.

Newport Harbor stayed close with Chris Richardson and Chris Seib each scoring two goals. Brown and Pflueger provided the spark, scoring consecutive goals on the counterattack to give Foothill a commanding 9-6 lead with four minutes remaining.