THE TIMES’ RANKINGS

Dan Arritt’s final boys’ water polo rankings and comments

*--* Rk School (Rec., Div.) Comment 1 Long Beach Wilson (26-4, SS-Div. I) The Bruins won their third consecutive Southern Section Div. I title and eighth in 10 years. 2 Harvard-Westlake (27-3, SS-Div. I) Reached the Div. I championship game with only one senior starter. 3 Foothill (21-9, SS-Div. I) Advanced to the Div. I semifinal before losing in sudden death to Long Beach Wilson. 4 El Toro (23-7, SS-Div. I) Late-season surge ended with sudden-death loss to Harvard-Westlake in semifinal. 5 Servite (25-3, SS-Div. II) Near-perfect season ended in short-handed loss to Marina in Div. II quarterfinals. 6 Esperanza (23-10, SS-Div. II) With Servite out of the way, Aztecs made most of chance to win Div. II title. 7 Los Alamitos (22-10, SS-Div. II) Reached Div. II final for second consecutive season but couldn’t repeat early-season win over Esperanza. 8 Newport Harbor (17-11, SS-Div. I) Pool reconstruction kept them on the road all season, but Sailors were always a threat. 9 Ayala (26-7, SS-Div. V) Lost three games to Damien during the regular season but won the one that counted in Div. V final. 10 Damien (30-3, SS-Div. V) Remained one of most consistent teams in region throughout season.

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