CdM, Newport seeded second, fourth in Division I

Richard Dunn

Back Bay high school boys water polo teams Corona del Mar and

Newport Harbor are seeded second and fourth, respectively, in the CIF

Southern Section Division I Playoffs, the section office announced

Monday.

CdM’s Sea Kings (19-7), the Pacific Coast League champions, will

host Long Beach Poly (8-17) in the first round Thursday at 3:15 p.m.,

while Newport Harbor’s Sea View League champions will host Northwood

(13-6) in the opening round. Newport Harbor is 18-9. Northwood was

third in the Pacific Coast League.

Corona del Mar, which has captured the last three CIF Division II

titles, is led by John Mann, Artie Dorr, John Money, Ali Kattan and

goalie Beau Stockstill. The Sea Kings could face Sea View runner-up

Foothill (14-11) in Saturday’s quarterfinals.

Long Beach Wilson (26-0) is seeded first and could square off

against Newport Harbor in the semifinals in both teams advance.

Harvard-Westlake (20-4) is seeded third.

Newport Harbor defeated Foothill, 8-7, for the Sea View

championship last Wednesday, after trailing by two goals in the

fourth quarter.

What makes it interesting for the Sailors is a possible

quarterfinal showdown with South Coast League champion El Toro

(18-5).

Newport Harbor, which lost to Long Beach Wilson in the season

opener, has played El Toro three times and defeated the Chargers

twice.

The Sailors, led by sophomore goalie Michael Robinson, drivers

Ross Sinclair, Jay Thompson, Nathan Weiner and Brent Armstrong and

two-meter man Michael Bury, beat El Toro in the South Coast

Tournament, 11-6, lost to the Chargers in a nonleague game at home,

10-7, and edged El Toro by one goal in the Northern California

Tournament.

Newport Harbor Coach Jason Lynch said Monday that his team’s

offense is playing so well at the moment that “even if teams know

what we’re doing, if we’re executing close to perfection, it should

still work.”

Newport Harbor and El Toro both play first-round home games, so a

coin flip will decide the home team in the quarterfinals.

Corona del Mar and Foothill are both at home in the first round,

which means a coin flip will determine Saturday’s quarterfinal host

if both teams get past the first round.