Girls water polo: CdM makes history

Steve Virgen

IRVINE - Despite dealing with school finals, a winter formal and a

big-time Pacific Coast League game this week, the Corona del Mar High

girls water polo team still completed noteworthy history after a gritty

run in the Irvine Southern California Championships Saturday at Heritage

Park.

The Sea Kings (20-6) took home some hardware, a runner-up plaque from

the 32-team tournament, which is the highest finish in a tourney in the

CdM program.

CdM, the only CIF Division IV team in the tournament’s semifinals and

final, ended its storybook quest for the title by running out of gas in a

10-4 loss to the champion Santa Margarita. Last year, the Sea Kings

finished 13th in the Irvine tournament.

CdM juniors Christina Hewko and Brittney Bowlus came away with

all-tournament laurels after guiding the Sea Kings to an 8-7

come-from-behind victory over El Toro in the semifinals Saturday.

But Santa Margarita, which defeated Foothill, 7-6, in the other

semifinal, had too much for CDM, especially in the third quarter when the

Eagles outscored the Sea Kings, 5-1.

“I’m really impressed and very proud of what they accomplished,” CdM

first-year coach Aaron Chaney said of his team. “We expended a lot of

energy in that morning game. How much more juice can you squeeze out of a

rock? We were tired from the beginning (against the Eagles). Santa

Margarita is just a great team.”

The Eagles swept the Sea Kings, 3-0, in the squads’ encounters this

season after a 7-3 Santa Margarita win in the second round of the Santa

Barbara Tournament Jan. 11 and a 7-4 victory at CdM Jan. 19.

CdM junior Jessica Harkins scored two goals, while sophomore Vivian

Liao and junior Danielle Carlson tallied one goal each.

In the Sea Kings’ semifinal win over El Toro, Hewko led the comeback,

scoring five goals after CdM was down 3-0 in the first quarter.

The Sea Kings grabbed their first lead of the game, 8-7, with 2:04

left, when Hewko scored her fifth goal from a six-on-five situation in

which she drew the player ejection.

Liao found Hewko at set, immediately after the player kickout.

Hewko drew five ejections, as the Sea Kings went 5 for 7 when El Toro

had a player out.

Hewko snuck in a shot from half tank with .71 of a second remaining in

the first period to put the Sea Kings within 3-1. Seniors Alexa Miller

and Jessica Fries, along with junior Daniela DiGiacomo produced strong

efforts which aided the comeback.

CdM goaltender Jessica Wells was critical to the Sea Kings’ success

with 11 saves.Meanwhile, Coach Bill Barnett’s Newport Harbor Sailors

(20-6) finished sixth in the tournament, after a 12-7 loss to Bell

Gardens in the fifth-place final. The Sailors defeated Carlsbad, 12-8, in

the fifth-place semifinal. Senior Katherine Belden earned all-tournament

honors, scoring four goals in the two games. Sophomore Jessica Ball led

with four goals in the victory over Carlsbad.

IRVINE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CHAMPIONSHIPS

Final

Santa Margarita 10, Corona del Mar 4

Score by Quarters

Santa Margarita 1 2 5 2 - 10

Corona del Mar 0 1 1 2 - 4

Santa Margarita - Ka. Kunkel 2, Hamilton 2, Stachowski 2, Figge 2,

Loftus 1, Kr. Kunkel 1. Saves - Yoder 4, O’Connor 1.

Corona del Mar - Harkins 2, Liao 1, Carlson 1. Saves - Wells 5.

Semifinal

Corona del Mar 8, El Toro 7

Score by Quarters

El Toro 3 2 1 1 - 7

Corona del Mar 1 1 3 3 - 8

El Toro - Beany 3, Palacios 1, Lopez 1, Heineck 1, Carter 1. Saves -

Greenberg 6.

Corona del Mar - Hewko 5, Bowlus 1, DiGiacomo 1, Carlson 1. Saves -

Wells 11.

Fifth-place final

Bell Gardens 12, Newport Harbor 7

Score by Quarters

Bell Gardens 4 4 3 1 - 12

Newport Harbor 0 3 1 3 - 7

Bell Gardens - Cardenas 5, Morales 3, J. Ruela 2, Deleon 2. Saves -

Lopez 8.

Newport Harbor - Belden 2, Murphy 2, Wight 2, Parole 1. Saves - Grocki

4.

Fifth-place semifinal

Newport Harbor 12, Carlsbad 8

Score by Quarters

Carlsbad 1 2 1 4 - 8

Newport Harbor 3 2 5 2 - 12

Carlsbad - Austin 3, O’Neill 3, Shafer 2. Saves - Machanis 1.

Newport Harbor - Ball 4, Wight 3, Belden 2, Parole 2, Murphy 1. Saves

- Grocki 7.