Girls water polo: Harbor dances past Coronado

Steve Virgen

NEWPORT BEACH - Aside from the final girls water polo game before

CIF Southern Section playoffs, Newport Harbor High junior Katherine

Belden had more occupying her thoughts.

With Harbor’s Winter Formal later in the day, she had plenty of

errands to attend to. But, first things first.

Amid rain, wind and cold, Belden scored five goals to lead the Sailors

to a 7-4 nonleague victory over visiting Coronado (17-9) Saturday.

The Tars (21-7), ranked No. 3 in Orange County and in Division I,

broke away from a 4-4 tie in the third quarter as Belden assisted on the

tiebreaking goal and scored the final two.

“I have my hair (appointment) at 1:15,” said Belden, who, just as most

of the Sailors, had winter formal plans at Knott’s Berry Farm. “My

make-up is at 3:30, and then pictures at 4:30. I have quite bit of a

schedule going today.”

Belden called Saturday’s game “a test of our focus,” because her

teammates could have been thinking about the night scene at the amusement

park.

With the victory and a solid defense, the Sailors completed the test

with a top grade. Harbor, this season’s Sea View League champion, stuffed

the Islanders on six of seven player-up advantages. The Sailors also

collected 13 steals as senior Jenna Booth grabbed four and sophomore

Jenna Murphy had three.

“It’s always nice to get a win before you get into the playoffs,” said

Tars’ Co-Coach Bill Barnett of the Division I playoffs. The pairings are

released today. “I think everything is together; it’s just a matter of

getting mentally prepared and playing hard.”

The Sailors turned in a playoffs-type performance as they had an

answer for every Coronado goal and never trailed.

Belden began the charge with a smooth lob shot that slid past the

fingertips of Islander goalie Thalia Kerr who finished with 11 saves.

Kerr’s brother, Genai, a goalie on the U.S. National team and a recent

graduate of UC Irvine, was in attendance, managing statistics for

Coronado.

Booth’s goal with just under four minutes remaining in the opening

quarter answered Coronado’s score which came 14 seconds earlier.

Belden extended the lead, 3-1, when she took a pass from sophomore

Paige Lansing and punched it in as Kerr got a hand on it, but it floated

into the cage.

The Islanders, ranked No. 2 in CIF San Diego Section Division II,

responded with two goals in an 18-second span to catch the Sailors. But,

Belden scored from five meters out, a shot that hit the crossbar and

dropped in with eight seconds remaining before halftime.

“(Belden is) a very smart player,” Coronado Co-Coach Dave Throop said.

“She’s an offensive threat and we didn’t recognize it early. This was a

great learning experience for us. Any time you play Newport you know

you’re going to get a team that is well-coached and plays hard.”

The Sailors broke the 4-4 tie with 3:05 remaining in the third quarter

as Belden found senior Erin Ball open on the left wing during a player-up

situation.

Belden scored the final two goals on player-up advantages which she

drew the Coronado ejections.

“I just hope it doesn’t rain,” Belden said of Saturday night.

NONLEAGUE

Newport Harbor 7, Coronado 4

Coronado 1 2 1 0 - 4

Newport Harbor 2 2 1 2 - 7

Coronado - Hansen 3, Adair 1.

Saves - Kerr 11.

Newport Harbor - Belden 5, Booth 1, E. Ball 1.

Saves - Deyden 10.