Corona del Mar Wins Another Title

Encore! Encore! Encore!

At the risk of sounding repetitive, Corona del Mar successfully defended its Southern Section Division II girls’ water polo championship and won its third consecutive title with a 13-3 victory over Rolling Hills Estates Peninsula on Monday night at Belmont Plaza.

Senior driver Katya Eadington scored a game-high four goals and junior utility player Jordan Anae had three goals for Corona del Mar, which had six players score.

The top-seeded Sea Kings (22-9) jumped to a 4-0 lead to open the game and took a 5-1 advantage early in the second quarter.

“Our team just wanted to come out strong and dominate right from the start,” Eadington said. “We wanted to get everybody in. I think we played to our potential today.”

Katlin Kubas and Vivian Liao scored two goals apiece for Corona del Mar, which won the Division IV championship in 2002.

“We talked about trying to start a tradition, and I think we’ve done that now,” Corona del Mar Coach Aaron Chaney said.

The Sea Kings’ postseason experience and better team speed did in Peninsula (25-5), which was making its first appearance in a title match.

The Panthers, who had a 15-game winning streak snapped, were led by senior hole-set Erin O’Donnell, who had two of their three goals.

Nicole Santarosa scored the other one.

Santa Barbara 17, Simi Valley Royal 8 -- Miranda Nichols and Kami Craig each scored four goals, and the Dons won their second consecutive Division IV championship and their sixth section title in seven seasons.

The Dons (29-2), who ended the season with a 22-game winning streak, jumped to a 6-0 lead by the end of the first quarter.

Junior goalie Brittany May had nine saves for Santa Barbara.

Christine Cruz scored four goals, and Sharleanna Richardson had three to lead Royal (23-8), which made its first appearance in a title game.

Temple City 9, Pico Rivera El Rancho 6 -- Senior driver Diana Jung scored four goals, and senior goalkeeper Shannon Lane made 10 saves for the Rams (25-6), who won the Division III title for the second consecutive year.

Jung, who played a defensive role for most of the season, put top-seeded Temple City ahead for good at 7-6 with seven seconds left in the third quarter. Lane, meanwhile, held third-seeded El Rancho (28-4) scoreless through a busy fourth quarter in which she made five saves.