Golden West Overpowers Delta, Advances to Water Polo Semifinals

Top-seeded Golden West had little trouble in the first round of the community college state water polo championships Friday.

The Rustlers scored 17 goals in the first half and cruised to a 24-6 victory over Delta at Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo.

Five players scored three goals or more, led by Danny Johnson’s six and Nenad Praporski’s four. Adriano Marsili, Andre Pedroni and Ivan Vranjes scored three each.

Golden West (32-1-1) plays Merced at 3:30 today in a semifinal game.

In another first-round game:

Saddleback 10, Diablo Valley 6--Brian Casserly, Brian Weathersby and Shaun Souza each scored two goals as Saddleback advanced to the semifinals. Saddleback plays West Valley today at 10:30 a.m.

In the women’s state water polo championships:

Golden West 17, Modesto 1--The Rustlers advanced to the second round, led by Melody Warren with six goals, three in the first quarter. Chelsea Rowlands had four goals and Amanda Ogle scored three.

Golden West will play Sierra at 4:45 p.m today.

Sierra 7, Orange Coast 5--Sierra rallied from a 3-2 halftime deficit, scoring five second-half goals. Jackie Tran led the Pirates with two goals.

Orange Coast will play Modesto in a consolation game today at 2:15 p.m.

In the Fullerton men’s basketball classic semifinals:

Saddleback 73, L.A. Valley 69--Donzell Hayes had 18 points and Vernon Jackson added 17 to lead Saddleback (3-2).

In the men’s Southern California soccer playoffs:

Irvine Valley 4, Rio Hondo 1--Chris Whitworth and Aaron Fry each scored a goal and had an assist as Irvine Valley advanced to today’s semifinal match at Santa Ana at 1 p.m. Yigal Kerzenbaum scored his 18th goal of the season and Whitworth scored his 16th.

Irvine Valley and Rio Hondo played because Compton, which beat both teams, forfeited its games for using an ineligible player.

Irvine Valley finished (20-3-1).