Girls water polo: Tars sting like a bee

Steve Virgen

NEWPORT BEACH - Confident, loose and taking advantage of its

momentum, such was the mentality of the Newport Harbor High girls water

polo team in the championship game of its Holiday Cup tournament

Saturday.

With a Muhammad-Ali-type aura about them, the Sailors knocked out

Santa Barbara, 9-1, in dominating fashion as Harbor (9-1) added a

precision offense to its attacking defense.

“They were loose and ready to roll,” Sailors Coach Bill Barnett said.

“They were just giddy and came out on fire. We just had more team speed.

And, that caused (Santa Barbara) a lot of problems.”

The Dons (6-2) went down for the count early. The Tars, No. 3 in

Orange County with a nine-game winning streak, built a 4-1 first-period

lead as they connected on four of their five shot attempts.

Harbor senior Jenna Booth, who led with three goals, began the scoring

24 seconds into the game. Erin Ball won the sprint which led to Booth’s

goal that came off an assist from Katherine Belden.

“We were just pumped and ready to win our tournament,” said Belden, a

junior who finished with two goals, four assists and four steals. “We

definitely belong in the Top 3. I would say our defense is No. 1 right

now.”

After Booth’s goal, sophomore Paige Lansing scored twice. With 3:43

remaining in the first quarter, Lansing sped out on a counterattack and

finished for the score.

Less than two minutes later, Lansing stole the ball and was alone on a

breakaway. She went one-on-one with Charlotte Grey, scooped the ball with

her left hand and slapped it in with her right.

“Once we got our momentum going,” Lansing said. “we felt like we could

take it and run. We were feeling really strong. We didn’t know much about

them and in that case we weren’t really scared of them. We weren’t scared

at all.”

The Dons collected their only goal in the first quarter when Molly

Cahill scored just as Booth reentered on a extra-player opportunity.

Jenna Murphy, a left-handed sophomore, closed out the scoring in the

first quarter for the Tars.

Harbor’s strong start appeared to rattle Santa Barbara. The Dons never

answered, never made a threat. And, the Sailors kept punching.

No-shows, however, dampen the conquest.

Foothill, Capistrano Valley and Santa Margarita were not at full

strength because of top player competing in national circles. Foothill

still gave a strong fight against Harbor without two of its best players.

The Knights defeated Capistrano Valley in the third-place game, as

Foothill came from behind for an 8-7 overtime victory.

“There’s no doubt that Foothill and Capo are still the teams to beat,”

Barnett said. “But, I’m just pleased with the way we’re progressing. The

most important thing for us now is to focus on Irvine. That first league

game (Jan. 10 at Irvine) is the most important by far. It can give you a

good seeding in the CIF playoffs.”

The Tars strengthened their future with a relentless attack on offense

and goalkeeper Heather Deyden anchoring the defense. She finished with

nine saves.

Harbor’s offense opened the second half with three goals in the first

five minutes.

Booth recorded a steal and finished for a score on the breakaway.

Fifty-two seconds later, Belden wowed the crowd with a backhand shot.

And, later Jessica Ball connected on a goal with Lauren Boreta draped

over her.

Everything seemed to be going Harbor’s way as Booth ended the scoring

with six minutes remaining.

“At the beginning (of the season),” Lansing said. “we were kind of

like the underdogs, no one really expected much of us, but we started to

work real well as a team. And, all of us put a lot of effort into it. Now

we’re just winning. We feel really good about ourselves. We’re showing

everybody who thought that we were going to be bad that we’re a lot

stronger than that.”

HOLIDAY CUP

Championship Game

Newport Harbor 9, Santa Barbara 1

Santa Barbara 1 0 0 0 - 1

Newport Harbor 4 1 3 1 - 9

Santa Barbara - Cahill 1.

Saves - Grey 7.

Newport Harbor - Booth 3, Belden 2, Lansing 2, Ball 1, Murphy 1.

Saves - Deyden 9.