Newport sails

Roger Carlson

NEWPORT BEACH - Newport Harbor High’s boys water polo team tuned

up for Tuesday’s CIF Division I second-round match with Loyola in the

best of ways Thursday afternoon, with Millikan High’s Rams supplying the

bait for a Seniors Day party.

The host Sailors, 25-2 and seeded No. 2 in the eliminations, used

every player in the easy victory, with the accent on seniors.

Eleven players shared in the scoring as Millikan fell, 17-3, before an

appreciative crowd that offered its biggest cheer to Max Lansing, who

fired in a shot at the end of a fast break with a one-on-one look, to up

the count to 16-3 with 5:03 left.

“I was really happy all our seniors got to play,” said co-coach Brian

Kreutzkamp. “They’ve put in four hard years with us.”

There were no hard spots in Thursday’s expected blowout as Millikan,

7-15, simply found itself on another planet.

Millikan’s only offense was to attempt virtual half-court shots, and

surprisingly, the Rams netted two of them in the second quarter to spoil

what might easily have been a shutout performance by goalie Tim Birdsong,

who had seven saves, two of the in-your-face variety.

Harbor, however, was 9-for-9 from the field in that second quarter to

assume a 12-3 lead, giving Kreutzkamp the luxury of unloading his bench

for the balance of the game.

Defending Harbor’s lead as the third period began were Travis

Cochrane, Gough, Lansing, Thayer, Greg Worthing, Michael Landers and

goalie Sean Johnson, and with Littrell and Brian Pence entering the

fourth quarter with goalie Brandon McClain, the combination shut Millikan

out, 5-0.

Robert Weiner was the leading scorer for Harbor with four goals, and

Peter Belden, Steven Jendrusina and Ryan Gough netted two goals.

Ryan Cook was the leading playmaker with five assists, with Belden and

Brendon Hansen lending two assists.

Belden and Gough were the leading thiefs, each with four steals, and

Kurt Thayer had three as Harbor scooped up 15 steals against a Rams team

which, although outclassed, went the distance with honors.

CIF DIVISION I PLAYOFFS

Newport Harbor 17, Millikan 3

Millikan 0 3 0 0 - 3

Newport Harbor 3 9 2 3 - 17

Millikan - Cox 2, Goeving 1. Saves: Hollingsworth 2.

Newport Harbor - Weiner 4, Belden 2, Jendrusina 2, Gough 2, Thayer 1,

Snelgrove 1, Hansen 1, Bean 1, Cook 1, Lansing 1, Littrell 1. Saves:

Birdsong 7, McClain 2, Johnson 3.