Harvard-Westlake Hopes Title Is a Sign of Things to Follow

Harvard-Westlake had little trouble winning the Jim Toring water polo tournament Saturday, defeating Glendale, 14-6, in the championship at Belmont Plaza in Long Beach.

For the Wolverines, they hope the title is merely a precursor to November, when the Southern Section Division I title will be decided--at Belmont Plaza.

“I think this will give us a lot of confidence we can win here,” Harvard-Westlake Coach Rich Corso said. “And it won’t be false confidence.”

The Wolverines didn’t face a serious test en route to the final. The championship game wasn’t much different.

All-American Peter Hudnut helped shut down Glendale senior Kevin Witt. Witt, the leading scorer in the region last year, was held to two shots in the first half and finished with three goals.

“My goal was to get him kicked out,” Hudnut said.

The Wolverines (7-0), ranked second in the preseason Division I poll, used their usual balanced attack. Hudnut, Eric Townsend and Jim Bloomingdale each scored three goals and Jason Malinsky added two.

After Witt scored his first goal early in the second period, cutting the score to 5-2, Harvard-Westlake responded with five consecutive goals. The last three came from Bloomingdale in a one-minute span. By halftime, the Wolverines led, 10-2.

“That’s the best part of our team, we don’t have just one weapon,” Hudnut said. “We had 10 or 12 guys that can score.”

The loss didn’t damper Glendale’s promising start. The Dynamiters (3-1) had little trouble winning their half of the bracket and may threaten Crescenta Valley’s 38-game Pacific League winning streak.

“We’re really glad we got the opportunity to play them,” Glendale Coach Chris Axelgard said. “We played OK and kept battling.”

In other Jim Toring tournament games:

La Canada 22, Irvine 9--Tristan Nyby scored six of his seven goals in the first half as the Spartans cruised in the third-place game.

Cyrus Jamnejad scored all four of his goals in the second half for La Canada (4-1), which cleared its bench by the end of the third quarter.

Jason Herzog scored three goals for Irvine (2-3).

Crescenta Valley 16, Trabuco Hills 9--The Falcons scored six consecutive goals to open the second half in the fifth-place game.

Carlos Pelayo scored five goals and Justin Payne and Kenny Carpenter each added four for the Falcons (4-2). Carpenter scored all four goals in the second half.

Jared Hayman and Jim Reideler each scored three goals for Trabuco Hills (2-4), but Hayman was ejected midway through the third quarter.