Girls water polo: Sailors settle for fifth

Steve Virgen

NEWPORT BEACH - There was not a Battle of the Bay girls water polo

rematch, but Newport Harbor High made the most of the Newport

Harbor-Corona del Mar Holiday Cup, finishing fifth in the 16-team

tournament Saturday.

Foothill High won the Holiday Cup with a 10-2 victory over Poway in

the championship game.

The Sailors (7-2) rebounded from a devastating 7-6 loss to Poway

Friday and shut down Santa Barbara, 5-1, in the first half. Newport

coasted to a 9-6 victory over the Dons (6-2) in the matchup for fifth

place at Newport’s pool.

Newport senior Katherine Belden drew two penalties and converted both

four-meter shots and junior Paige Lansing also scored two goals, while

senior Amber Braly, junior Raelyn Ritchie, sophomore Katie Erickson and

junior Annie Wight netted one goal each.

“We were much more in control (than Friday),” Newport Coach Bill

Barnett said. “We didn’t play helter-skelter water polo. We took

advantage of our counterattack opportunities, our frontcourt offense was

very, very patient and the passing was much better than (Friday).

Everybody was disappointed about the Poway loss, but we played very well

today.”

The Sailors scored two goals in 44 seconds within the last two minutes

of the first period to grab the momentum. Amid a steady downpour of rain,

junior Ashley Parole found Braly on a backdoor cut for a goal, then

Ritchie made good on a lob shot.

After Jessica Ball recorded one of her game-high five steals, she

hurled a pass in front of Lansing on a breakaway. Lansing spun to

distract a Santa Barbara defender and fired a shot into the cage for a

3-0 lead 4:16 before halftime.

The Sailors closed out the second period with a goal from Lansing an

another from Erickson.

Belden had three steals to support a defense that was anchored by

goalie Leah Grocki and her seven saves.

Newport Harbor defeated Santa Ynez, 12-6, to reach the fifth-place

final. Belden led with four goals, while Ball added three and Braly put

in two. Lansing, Erickson and junior varsity call-up Alex Andersen scored

one goal each.

Newport junior starter Jenna Murphy missed both games Saturday because

of illness, Barnett said.

Meanwhile, Coach Aaron Chaney’s Corona del Mar Sea Kings suffered an

8-7 loss in overtime to Santa Barbara in the fifth-place semifinals. CdM

held a 7-6 lead with 2:01 left after Christina Hewko scored one of her

team-high three goals. But the Dons scored with 1:37 remaining to send

the game into overtime, consisting of two three-minute periods. Santa

Barbara’s Miranda Nichols scored with 1:14 left in the second

three-minute overtime session.

Danielle Carlson scored two goals, while Daniela DiGiacomo and

Brittany Bowlus added one each for the Sea Kings (7-2).

CdM finished seventh in the tourney by forfeit after Santa Ynez failed

to show up. Chaney said the Pirates missed the game because they had an

old schedule of the tournament.

NEWPORT HARBOR-CORONA DEL MAR HOLIDAY CUP

Fifth-place semifinal

Newport Harbor 12, Santa Ynez 6 Santa Ynez 2 1 0 3 - 6

Newport Harbor 3 3 4 2 - 12

Santa Ynez - Lowrey 3, Huff 2, Bensen 1. Saves - Erin 9.

Newport Harbor - Belden 4, Ball 3, Braly 2, Lansing 1, Erickson 1,

Andersen 1. Saves - Grocki 8.

Fifth-place final

Newport Harbor 9, Santa Barbara 6

Santa Barbara 0 1 2 3 - 6

Newport Harbor 2 3 2 2 - 9

Santa Barbara - Godlis 3, Borneman 1, Cahill 1, Gill 1. O’Donnell 5.

Newport Harbor - Lansing 2, Belden 2, Braly 1, Ritchie 1, Erickson 1,

Wight 1, Ball 1. Saves - Grocki 7.

Fifth-place semifinal

Santa Barbara 8, Corona del Mar 7 OT

Santa Barbara 1 1 1 4 0 1 - 8

Corona del Mar 1 1 1 4 0 0 - 7

Santa Barbara - Nichols 3, Sweeney 2, Cahill 2, Godlis 1.

Corona del Mar - Hewko 3, Carlson 2, DiGiacomo 1, Bowlus 1.