Bell Gardens Still Dominant

Bell Gardens High won its third consecutive Southern Section Division III girls’ water polo championship Monday, defeating North Hollywood Harvard-Westlake, 13-2, at Belmont Plaza Pool.

Bell Gardens (31-1), which had its 85-game winning streak ended by Division I champion Santa Ana Foothill on Feb. 3, got two goals from Jenny Rueda in the first quarter to take a 2-0 lead.

Patty Cardenas scored five goals and Veronica Baeza had four for Bell Gardens, which also defeated Harvard-Westlake in last year’s final.

Harvard-Westlake (19-7) outshot Bell Gardens, 32-31. But Lancer goalie Alexandra Lopez turned away nine shots by Harvard-Westlake’s double-post offense, yielding goals to Courtney Quinn at 4:39 in the second quarter and 1:22 in the third.