Sailors handle rivals

Steve Virgen

They were down, but certainly not out.

After losing badly in the semifinals, the Newport Harbor High

Sailors earned third place with an 8-5 girls water polo victory over

Back Bay rival Corona del Mar in the Newport Harbor-Corona del Mar

Holiday Cup Saturday at Newport.

The Sailors (5-1) were able to pick themselves up because they

stayed away from foul trouble and facing the Sea Kings inspired them.

“We came back and showed a lot of character,” said Newport Coach

Bill Barnett, whose team suffered an 11-5 semifinal loss to Santa

Barbara earlier in the day. “We got pounced [on] by Santa Barbara. It

shows a lot of character on [the Sailors] part to come back and play

a really hard game and win. They responded well. I was very pleased.”

Newport junior Anne Belden and senior Carolyn Conway scored to

give the Sailors a 2-0 lead in the first quarter, just the advantage

the Tars needed to hold off CdM, which lost, 4-2, to Foothill in the

other semifinal.

Foothill (10-0), which now has a 47-game winning streak, won the

Holiday Cup with a 10-7 victory over Santa Barbara.

“They have a very strong team,” Foothill Coach Dave Mikesell said

of CdM. “Jordan [Anae] and Camille [Hewko] played tough and their

hero was the goalie, [Brittany] Fullen. CdM matched up very well with

us. They have a pretty good team.”

The Sea Kings (3-5) showed some of their strength against Newport.

They crawled back from a 4-1 deficit and pulled to within one, as Amy

Strack scored on a six-on-five opportunity and Natalie Wayte made

good on a lob shot with 3:43 left in the third.

But Newport junior Ashling Taylor drew a kick-out and then took an

assist from Conway to score on the power play with 34 seconds

remaining.

The Sailors then went up, 6-3, when Conway converted an assist

from Belden less than two minutes into the fourth. Conway and Belden

capped the scoring for Newport.

“A lot of the girls felt very discouraged [after Santa Barbara],”

said Newport senior Jessica Ball, a team co-captain. “We did not play

up to par. We wanted to come back and say, ‘this is really how our

team is.’ ”

Anae led CdM with two goals, while Strack, Wayte and Vivian Liao

added one each.

CdM goalie Brittany Fullen recorded seven saves.

The Newport goalies, Kim Housepian and Terin Cottam, had four

saves each.

Newport Harbor has now defeated CdM three straight times. Before

that, the Sea Kings had won two in a row in the Back Bay rivalry

matchup.

In a wild game that featured six ties and three lead changes,

Newport edged CdM, 8-7, Dec. 19, also at Newport.

Though the Sailors had suffered a tough semifinal loss to Santa

Barbara (7-2), CdM Coach Aaron Chaney didn’t count on his Sea Kings

having any advantage.

“Newport’s tough,” Chaney said. “Barnett is not going to allow

that. They’re going to come out tough every game.”

Though CdM lost twice Saturday, the Sea Kings were able to build

confidence.

“I don’t know how many coaches would be happy with their team when

they are 3-5, but I’m pretty happy with what these guys are doing,”

Chaney said.

Chaney also said CdM definitely had opportunities to defeat

Foothill.

Senior Katya Eadington scored on a counterattack and on an assist

from Hewko to put CdM within 3-2, with 6:02 left in the game. But

Lauren Miller scored on a six-on-five situation with 4:31 left and

the Knights defended well down the stretch.

Foothill led, 3-0, at the half. Jillian Krause’s goal with three

seconds left before the half, especially hurt the Sea Kings, Chaney

said. CdM found some offense and Fullen’s 14 saves kept the Sea Kings

in the game, but the Knights found a way to win.

In Newport’s semifinal against Santa Barbara, junior Kami Craig,

who plays on the 20-and-under U.S. national junior team, scored a

game-high four goals. Craig, a transfer from Santa Ynez, also created

open outside shots for her teammates.

“She’s the best player I’ve seen so far in CIF,” Barnett said.

“So, what do you do? If you press, they get her the ball and she

scores. If you drop on her, their outside shooters score. We were

hoping that their outside shooters would be off and they weren’t.

That’s the way it is. It’s like playing a zone [defense] in

basketball. You hit the outside shot, it’s not going to do any good.”

*--*

Newport Harbor-CdM Holiday Cup Third-place game

Newport Harbor 8, Corona del Mar 5

Score by Quarters

CdM 0 1 2 2 -- 5

Newport 2 1 2 3 -- 8

Corona del Mar -- Anae 2, Strack 1, Wayte 1, Liao 1. Saves -- Fullen 7. Newport Harbor -- Belden 3,

Conway 3, Mutt 1, Taylor 1. Saves -- Housepian 4,

Cottam 4.

*--*