Newport Harbor Gives Wilson a Tough Time

Since Thursday, when the South Coast boys’ water polo tournament began, Long Beach Wilson has dominated every team it faced.

So when Wilson went up against Newport Harbor Saturday in the tournament’s championship final, it figured to be one-sided. But a controversial ejection in the first quarter put the game in a whole new light and instead of a blow out, Wilson had to scratch and claw its way to a 10-9 victory over the Sailors at Newport Harbor High.

With less than two minutes left in the first quarter, Wilson’s star player, Tony Azevedo, was ejected from the game. According to the official, Azevedo hit an opponent in the face.

“When you lose a player of the caliber of Tony, it has to affect the way you play,” Newport Harbor coach Bill Barnett said. “But aside from that, our focus was to not let them beat us as bad as they did two weeks ago, play very conservative and try to keep the score close and not let them get too far ahead.”

Wilson, ranked first in Southern Section Division I, handed Orange County’s top-ranked Sailors a 13-7 loss two weeks ago. In Saturday’s semifinal game against No. 3 Foothill, the Bruins won, 10-3. And against No. 6 Servite in the quarterfinals, Wilson won, 13-4.

The Bruins were in control despite Azevedo’s ejection, scoring six goals to Newport Harbor’s two in the first half. Albert Garcia did a nice job filling the Azevedo void, scoring one goal in the first quarter and three in the second. He finished the game with six goals, scoring the eventual winner at 4 minutes 18 seconds in the fourth quarter.

A renewed Newport Harbor came out to score four goals in the third quarter and three in the fourth.

Tough defense and some outstanding goalkeeping by Newport Harbor’s Tim Birdsong had Wilson struggling offensively and the high-scoring Bruins were held to four goals in the second half.

Jeff Leeper provided the primary push for the Sailors, scoring two goals in the third and one in the fourth quarter. Brandon Hanson brought the Sailors within one with two minutes left in the game when he lobbed the ball over Bruin goalie Jaison Robinson’s head.

But Wilson was able to run out the clock with 18 seconds left to end the game.

In the third-place game:

Foothill 7, El Toro 6--Nick Ellis scored three goals, leading the Knights, who improved to 6-2.

In consolation games:

Costa Mesa 11, Goleta Dos Pueblos 10--Hunter Taylor scored four goals to lead Costa Mesa (5-2). Taylor had 26 goals in the tournament. Costa Mesa also beat Riverside Poly, 9-7.

In the Irvine Varsity Tournament:

Irvine 9, Mater Dei 4--Michael Shapiro scored four goals as Irvine (7-3) won the championship. Christian Munden and Ryan McNab combined for nine saves. Shapiro, the MVP, had 14 goals in the tournament. Irvine beat Santa Ana Valley, 10-6, in the semifinals.

In the Rowland boys’ water polo tournament:

Fountain Valley 12, Encino Crespi 11 (OT)--Kiff Crandall scored the game-winner 41 seconds into overtime. Brad Causee’s goal with 2:38 remaining in regulation tied the score, 11-11, for Fountain Valley (3-3). Causee scored eight goals. Jason Kim made eight saves for the Barons, one in overtime.