Belden Was Driving Force Behind Sailors’ Title Run

There were a lot of talented position players in boys’ water polo this year, but none with the all-around skills of Newport Harbor’s Peter Belden.

The 5-foot-11, 170-pound senior did it all.

He could score from two meters, he could score on the drive. He won 90% of his sprints and was usually the first player in scoring position on the counterattack. And when he wasn’t driving the Sailors’ offensive charge, he was back on defense, guarding some of the best two-meter players in Southern California.

“More than any other player I know, he can do everything,” Newport Harbor Coach Brian Kreutzkamp said. “There is nothing he can’t do as good as anyone else. I’ve never seen a player that can do everything he does.”

Belden, who finished with 96 goals, 75 assists and 80 steals, was the key to the Sailors winning the Southern Section Division I title. He was named Southern Section Division I player of the year and Sea View League MVP. And now you can add to that list The Times’ Orange County player of the year award.

“Peter takes the brunt of everything,” Foothill Coach Jim Brumm said. “He has great speed, he’s a good outside shooter, he’s good on the six-on-five and he’s one of the top defensive players.”

Brumm would know. It was Belden’s dominant performance in the championship that ended Foothill’s title hopes. Belden scored four goals on six shots, had four assists, three steals and won all four sprints in the game. He also held Brian Alexander, the Knights’ leading scorer, to only two goals in the Sailors’ 15-9 victory.

“I waited four years for this,” Belden said after the game. “I can’t even begin to describe how it feels.”

For most of the season, Belden, who is leaning toward UCLA or California for college, led the team in scoring and steals. But when the playoffs rolled around, Kreutzkamp used Belden where he was needed most--on defense.

In the Sailors’ second-round game against L.A. Loyola, Belden had seven steals and shut out Loyola’s leading scorer. In the semifinals, Belden held El Toro’s Brett McCleave, a first-team all-county two-meter player who scored 148 goals this season, to only two. Belden’s teammate Ryan Cook took over the scoring lead after those two games.

“As soon as we got to [the playoffs], we had to put Peter on the best players,” Kreutzkamp said. “He is a go-to guy, whether it’s on offense or defense.”

But Kreutzkamp said it was not only Belden’s all-around talent that earned him all those accolades, but also the other things he did for the Sailors.

“He’s the team’s leader and motivator,” Kreutzkamp said. “He never subs out. He calls the defense, he sets plays. It’s like having a coach in the pool.

“We would have never won the title without him.”