Weekend’s Championships Serve as Playoff Preview

The best girls’ water polo teams in Southern California will gather in Orange County this weekend for the Southern California Champion-

ships tournament, the last major tournament before the Southern Section playoffs begin in two weeks.

The 32-team, three-day tournament, played at Heritage Park in Irvine and Corona del Mar and El Toro High Schools, will feature all of Orange County’s top-10 teams.

“Every game will be tough,” Irvine Coach Scott Hinman said. “You get into the second round and on and it will be an all-out war.”

If the seedings hold, second-round matchups at 8 p.m. Thursday include Villa Park, ranked third in the county, vs. No. 7 Marina, No. 4 Esperanza vs. No. 10 Rosary, No. 5 Capistrano Valley vs. No. 8 Santa Margarita and No. 6 Newport Harbor vs. No. 9 El Toro.

The quarterfinals are Friday at 6 p.m. at each site. The tournament concludes Saturday at Heritage Park, where the semifinals will be at 10 and 11 a.m. followed by the final at 3 p.m.

But Irvine, the host team and the top-ranked team in Orange County, will not be at 100%. The Vaqueros have two key players--senior Emi Umezawa and junior Kristi Riedel--nursing injuries.

Umezawa is experiencing back trouble that has been a constant problem for her throughout her career, Hinman said. Riedel, one of the Vaqueros’ top shooters, has a mild shoulder injury that sidelined her in the Santa Barbara tournament two weeks ago.

Both played last week in victories over Aliso Niguel, Marina and Los Alamitos, but Hinman has been particularly careful with Umezawa. She did not start in Friday’s 5-4 victory over No. 7 Marina and played even fewer minutes in Saturday’s 5-1 victory over Los Alamitos.

“We’re playing it by ear,” Hinman said. “Emi’s going on to play in college and we owe it to her to keep her healthy and not risk any long-term injuries. The objective is to have her ready for the [Southern Section] playoffs.”

The Southern California Championships tournament served as a substitute for Southern Section playoffs before the section officially sanctioned a postseason tournament for the first time in 1998.

Although the Southern California Championships provides an opportunity for some teams to improve their section playoff seedings and gauge their competition, Irvine is among the teams keeping it in perspective.

“Sure we’d like to win [this weekend],” Hinman said. “But our goal is to win CIF.”

SUNSET SHOWDOWN

Wednesday at 6 p.m., fourth-ranked Esperanza and seventh-ranked Marina will meet at the Los Alamitos Armed Forces Reserve Center with the Sunset League title at stake.

Unfortunately for the Vikings, they may be short-handed.

Marina Coach Drew Netherton received a red card and was ejected from Friday’s 5-4 loss to Irvine, and now Netherton must sit out the Vikings’ next game.

Esperanza, led by senior Teresa Guidi, is 9-1 since a victory over second-ranked Foothill three weeks ago.

OTHER TOP GAMES

Sonora, with senior Laura McNabb, can take a big step toward a share of the Freeway League title if it can defeat Troy in a home game Thursday. Troy, unbeaten in league, handed Sonora its only league loss, 10-4, on Jan. 13.

In the Pacific Coast League, Corona del Mar can clinch at least a tie for the league title with a victory at home Wednesday against University. Corona del Mar is ranked fourth in Division IV and University is ranked seventh.

If you have an item or idea for the girls’ water polo report, you can fax us at (714) 966-5663 or e-mail us at:

mike.itagaki@latimes.com