Southern Section

Tuesday, Nov. 23

DIVISION I

Championship

Long Beach Wilson 13, Foothill 11
The Long Beach Wilson boys’ water polo team continues to make winning Southern Section Division I titles look easy. Then again, that’s what the counterattack is all about.

The top-seeded Bruins made good use of their best weapon Tuesday night against third-seeded Santa Ana Foothill. They scored nine goals on counterattacks to pave the way to a 13-11 victory at Belmont Plaza in Long Beach, clinching a fourth consecutive section title and eighth in the last nine years.

“That was our game plan, to go out and swim as hard as we can because no one can swim with us,” said junior Matt Sagehorn, who led the Bruins with five goals and six steals.

Wilson (30-2) was probably at its best early in the second quarter, when Sagehorn produced steals on Foothill’s first three possessions. After his third, he passed to Scott Swanson, who skipped a shot into the goal to tie the score, 2-2. Scott Huntley then stole the ball at mid-pool from Kevin Oland, drew a 20-second ejection on Oland and then passed the ball to Swanson, who gave the Bruins a lead they would never relinquish.

The Knights (21-9) cut the lead back to one four times in the second half, but each time Wilson quickly answered, twice producing man-advantage goals. Foothill’s last push came with 1:24 remaining, when Garrett Hayes cut the lead to 12-11. But on its next possession, Ryan Cummins skipped his shot over the goal and Wilson goalkeeper Chay Lapin quickly fired an outlet pass to Sagehorn on a breakaway that clinched the victory.

“I don’t think anybody knows how hard they work,” said Wilson Coach Tony Martinho, who won his fifth section title at Wilson and sixth overall. “We have some tremendous kids that can swim and they can really put the ball away when they shoot.”

J.W. Krumpholz scored five goals to lead the Knights, who are 0-3 against Wilson in section finals, losing all by a combined five goals.

--Dan Arritt

DIVISION V

Championship

Riverside Poly 10, Damien 6
Juniors Jessee Warkentin, Christian Cardey and Colin Tewskbury led the top-seeded Bears (27-6) to their third Division V title in five seasons.

Warkentin stopped 10 shots, including a 4-meter penalty throw late in the first half, while Cardey scored four goals and Tewksbury had three goals against the third-seeded Spartans (23-7-1).

The Bears took a 4-1 lead after the first quarter and Damien never got any closer. Riverside Poly led, 7-2, when Warkentin stopped Steve Donohoe’s penalty shot. Warkentin later saved a point-blank shot by the Spartans’ Kenny Glover with Riverside Poly leading by four goals but down a man because of an ejection with 3 minutes, 30 seconds left in the third quarter.

Riverside Poly reached the final after rallying from a four-goal deficit over the last 6 1/2 minutes of a semifinal match against Chino Hills Ayala on Friday.

Daniel Perdew scored two goals to lead Damien, which lost in the final for the second year in a row after it had beaten Riverside Poly, 10-9, for the division title in 2002. The Spartans also fell in the 2001 final match.

--Dan Arritt

DIVISION VI

Championship

Bonita 14, El Segundo 4
Ryan Allred had seven goals for top-seeded Bonita (23-8-1), which won its fourth consecutive Division VI title in its seventh final-match appearance in a row Tuesday at Belmont Plaza.

Bonita led 6-0 at halftime, but second-seeded El Segundo (24-8) scored twice to pull within 6-2 before Allred scored three consecutive goals to extend the Bearcats’ advantage to 9-2 midway through the third quarter.

El Segundo, which got two goals from Stephen Homeyer, was making its first appearance in a championship match since a berth in the 2-A Division final in 1985. The Eagles won 12 titles from 1947 to 1964.

--Dan Arritt

Monday, Nov. 22

SOUTHERN SECTION PLAYOFFS

DIVISION II

Los Alamitos 8, Villa Park 7
Los Alamitos shook off the memory of two consecutive losses in the Southern Section Division II boys’ water polo final Monday night and upset top-seeded Villa Park, 8-7, at Belmont Plaza in Long Beach.

The second-seeded Griffins scored the go-ahead goal on a lob shot by the team’s leading scorer, senior Scott Davidson, with 2 minutes 33 seconds remaining.

“I wouldn’t expect anything less from Davidson,”’ said junior Clayton Snyder, who had three goals, an assist and drew an ejection that led to another goal, all in the first half, to help Los Alamitos to a 6-4 lead.

Villa Park (32-1) had an excellent opportunity to tie the score when senior Shea Buckner broke ahead of the defense on a counterattack, but his lob shot hit the crossbar with 48 seconds remaining and Los Alamitos recovered the loose ball. Buckner, who came into the game with 190 goals on the season, was held to two by the Griffins.

Snyder scored the first two goals of the game. After the Spartans tied the score, 2-2, early in the second quarter, Los Alamitos (25-6) responded with four consecutive goals. Villa Park rallied to tie the score, 7-7, with 48 seconds left in the third quarter but was held scoreless in the fourth.

--Dan Arritt

DIVISION III

Finals

Montebello 11, La Serna 9
The fourth-seeded Oilers outscored La Serna, 7-4, in the second half to secure their second consecutive Division III title.Montebello (26-6) scored on all three of its man-advantage situations in the third quarter and held the third-seeded Lancers (28-5) scoreless on both its extra-man possessions to take a 9-7 lead heading into the final period.Yuriel Villa then scored two of his three goals in the fourth quarter to help the Oilers maintain their two-goal cushion.Jeff Greenwood scored three goals to lead La Serna, which fell to 0-7 in section finals, losing by a combined 19 goals in those games.

--Dan Arritt