Newport KOs Wilson

Joseph Boo

NEWPORT BEACH - Ever since the first matchup between boys water

polo heavyweights Newport Harbor High and Long Beach Wilson, which the

Sailors won, 11-10, in a tense sudden death, fans have been abuzz about

the possible rematch in the finals of the South Coast Tournament Saturday

at Newport Harbor.

Well, the rematch did take place, but instead of Tyson-Holyfield, it was

more like Tyson-McNeely. Host and No. 1 Newport Harbor blew away the No.

2 Bruins, 11-5, in emphatic fashion.

“To tell you the truth,” Newport Harbor Co-coach Brian Kreutzkamp said,

“I’m shocked. I knew we were capable of playing this well, but it’s still

surprising. I hope we haven’t peaked too early.”

“This is one of those games where everything went our way.”

Shocked would be an understatement in describing the spectators’

reaction. Even though it was missing Tony Azevedo, the youngest player on

the U.S. National team, Wilson still boasted Albert Garcia, considered by

some to be the second best high school player in the nation behind

Azevedo.

Instead of finding the back of the goal, though, the only thing Garcia

found was Peter Belden, who stuck to him like grass stains. Belden marked

Garcia all over the pool, and the Bruins’ star was shut out for three

quarters.

“That was the key,” Kreutzkamp said. “Belden was on him on every shot. We

didn’t let him go inside and only gave him outside shots.”

With Garcia bottled up, Wilson seemed unable to do anything on offense.

It was shut out for the entire first half, and Scott Jones scored the

only two Bruin goals in the third.

It didn’t matter at that point because Newport Harbor took an 11-2 lead

into the fourth quarter. Ryan Cook was the offensive star with four goals

and four assists at the two-meter mark. Robert Weiner added three goals.

The Sailors raced out to a 2-0 lead in the first period when Paul Kepner

and Weiner scored. The lead was extended to 5-0 in the second quarter

behind goals from Cook and Weiner.

The second period was also when Wilson started showing its frustration

with fouls. Shots were rare for the Bruins, and what few they had,

narrowly missed or were blocked by Sailors’ goalie Tim Birdsong, who had

14 saves.

“With a goalie like (Birdsong),” Kreutzkamp said, “it makes things easy.”

The Sailors’ confidence seemed to be overwhelming in the second quarter.

With the defense and Birdsong shutting down the Bruins, Harbor’s offense

became aggressive and found many easy scoring opportunities.

“By the middle of the second quarter,” Kreutzkamp said, “we were so

confident that we would start going the other way right after they shot.”

The levee broke in the third period when the Sailors outscored the

Bruins, 6-2. Brendan Hansen scored twice, Steve Jendrusina added one, and

Cook added three to his total, including one with two seconds left in the

period that seemed to put an exclamation point on the game.

The game did last one period too long for the Sailors, as Garcia finally

broke loose and scored three times in that period. But it was too little,

too late, and Newport Harbor whooped it up and celebrated, arguably, it’s

greatest victory of the year.

“We proved ourselves,” Weiner said. “We showed everybody that we’re a No.

1-ranked team.”

As impressive as this game was, the odds are that these two teams will

meet again in the playoffs, and the Sailors will eventually see Azevedo.

“I told this to Paul (Kepner),” Weiner said. “One player cannot score

five goals and block five shots.”

Nevertheless, the Bruins will lick their wounds and look for revenge in

the possible Newport-Wilson III match.

SOUTH COAST TOURNAMENT

Championship

Newport Harbor 11, Long Beach Wilson 5

Newport Harbor 2 3 6 0 - 11

Long Beach Wilson 0 0 2 3 - 5

Newport: Cook 4, Weiner 3, Hansen 2, Kepner 1, Jendrusina 1. Saves:

Birdsong 14.

Wilson: Garcia 3, Jones 2.