Santa Barbara Rallies in Water Polo

Santa Barbara High’s Kami Craig scored four of her six goals in the fourth quarter and the Dons rallied for a 7-5 girls’ water polo victory over Santa Ana Foothill in the title game of the Irvine/Southern California Championships on Saturday at Corona del Mar High.

The victory was the Dons’ first in three meetings this season between the teams. Foothill defeated Santa Barbara, 4-3, in a nonleague game on Dec. 13 and won, 10-7, in the championship game of the Newport Harbor/Corona del Mar Cup on Dec. 27.

For top-seeded Santa Barbara (23-2), the top-ranked team in the Southern Section Division IV, it was the third Irvine tournament title in six years. Foothill (23-3), the tournament’s defending champion, has won the title twice.

Craig, scored four of her goals on four-meter penalty shots, including two in the fourth quarter. Craig slammed a penalty shot past Katy Krumpholz to pull the Dons within 5-4 with 5:10 left. Less than a minute later, Nicole Louie got the ball inside and threw a quick pass to Craig, who turned and shot into the corner of the goal to tie the score. Another penalty shot by Craig put the Dons up, 6-5, and she secured the victory with a backhand shot with 52 seconds left.

-- Melanie Neff

Girls’ Basketball

La Puente Bishop Amat, ranked No. 11 in the Southland, trailed by eight points early in the third quarter and then scored the next 22 points to defeat No. 21 L.A. Marlborough (21-3), 51-46, in a nonleague game at Marlborough. The Lancers (22-3) had nine three-point baskets, with four in the third quarter. Two of those were by Amelia Alvarez, who scored a team-high 12 points.

-- Martin Henderson

Boys’ Soccer

Simi Valley Royal, ranked No. 1 in the Southland by The Times, will play host to No. 7 Thousand Oaks in a crucial Marmonte League game at 5 p.m. Monday.

The Highlanders (19-1-3, 9-0-2) and defending-champion Thousand Oaks (21-3-2, 9-1-2) are tied for first in the league standings with 18 points, but Royal is a game up in the loss column.

-- John Ortega

Wrestling

Heavyweight Adrian Martinez pinned Dustin Parker of Lake Forest El Toro at 1:29 and Matt Hartshorne pinned El Toro’s Ronnie Ruiz in 4:04 in the 125-pound weight division to help San Clemente to 236.5 points and a league championship in the South Coast League dual finals Saturday at Mission Viejo Trabuco Hills.

Unlike some other leagues, the South Coast decides its champion based on regular-season records and placement in the league tournament.

The Tritons (5-0) won the regular season, but had to beat Dana Hills (4-1) at the league meet in order to win the title.

-- Rafer Weigel