PLAYOFF PROFILES : Standing Tall in the Water

Mike Denny can’t help being overshadowed by teammate Alfonso Tucay on the Burroughs High water polo team.

Not only does Tucay lead the team in scoring, but at 6 feet 4, 235 pounds, he casts a rather large shadow.

Especially over Denny. At 5-7, 140 pounds, he is the smallest player on the team. But his size hasn’t stopped him from having big games.

A senior goalie, Denny had 302 saves in the regular season to help put the Indians (19-6) in the Southern Section water polo playoffs for the first time in school history.

Denny isn’t going to let that opportunity slip by.

“Coach [John Kunishima] psychs us up,” Denny said. “He makes us realize that if we don’t win, it will be our last high school game ever.”

Denny has responded, making a season-high 25 saves in the Indians’ first-round victory over Beverly Hills and adding 19 when Burroughs knocked off third-seeded Peninsula in the second round.

Burroughs meets Whittier today at 12:30 p.m. in a Division III semifinal at the Rose Bowl Aquatics Center in Pasadena.

“If we didn’t have him we would have been done in the first round,” Kunishima said. “He is making a lot of one-on-none saves. . . . real game savers.”

And to think that the coach once encouraged Denny to try another position.

“When he told me he wanted to play goalie, I sat down and had a talk with him,” Kunishima said. “I told him he might be able to help us more in the field.”

But Denny refused to quit. He relied on his thirst for excitement and knowledge of the game to win the job.

“I like the position because of the intensity,” he said. “When everything comes down to you it gets the adrenaline going. I just anticipate the shot and try to figure out what they’re going to do.”

His leg strength helps him overcome his size disadvantage.

“He has tremendous legs,” Kunishima said. “He covers so much cage for someone his size.”