Sailors finally get over the (Foot)hill

STEVE VIRGEN

Though the Newport Harbor High girls water polo team was denied the

Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions title, the Sailors still came

away with a load of confidence.

For the second time in the same week, the Sailors defeated

Foothill, which had been known as Newport’s nemesis.

Barring some sort of surprise, Newport Harbor will be the No.

1-ranked team in CIF Southern Section Division I. And, rightly so.

The Sailors defeated Foothill, 10-9, in overtime, ending the Knights’

winning streak at 49 games, in a key Sea View League matchup

Wednesday.

For good measure, Newport backed up its performance with a 9-5

semifinal win over Foothill, the four-time defending CIF Southern

Section Division I champion, Saturday at Santa Barbara High.

Senior Jessica Ball, a team co-captain bound for the University of

Michigan, had a hand in eight of the nine goals Saturday. She scored

six and delivered two assists. Just one of her six goals came from a

four-meter penalty opportunity, that was created by Carolyn Conway.

“[The 9-5 win] proves that Wednesday wasn’t a fluke,” Ball said.

“We deserved to win, so that’s a nice feeling. We were able to play

well against them.”

Against the Knights Saturday, Ball said the Sailors matched

Foothill’s intensity and, for the second-straight game, held Foothill

standout Jillian Kraus to two goals. Ball said the game was also a

physical affair. Newport was assessed 11 ejections, while Foothill

had nine.

Before Newport Coach Bill Barnett left for a national water polo

convention in St. Louis, Mo., he was charged with a yellow card.

Foothill Coach Dave Mikesell also got a yellow, and his assistant was

red-carded and had to leave the pool area.

“It was a weird game; it almost seemed slow-paced,” Ball said.

“You could feel the frustration from them toward the end. It was

really physical. Carolyn and Anne [Belden] drew most of the

ejections. That opened a lot of opportunities. You could always

expect a tough and physical game [with Foothill]. It was a good thing

to beat Foothill again. But we still have a lot to do to improve.”

*

A great deal of determination accounted for Newport’s victories

over the Knights last week, but much of the credit also went to game

preparation and the Sailors’ commitment to Barnett’s training.

Entering Wednesday’s game against Foothill, Barnett had his girls

ready for defense, guarding Kraus and attacking in transition. He put

Ball on Kraus and had other Sailors help her.

In addition, Newport’s six-on-five offense included hard ball

fakes that seemed to throw off the Knights.

“Coach prepared us so well for [that] game,” Ball said Wednesday.

“We watched the tapes and saw what we needed to do to win and we

worked on it in practice.”

While Conway led Newport with four goals, it was the Sailors’

supporting cast that stepped up, more so than Foothill. Ashling

Taylor and Melissa Wheeler scored a goal each in the first

three-minute overtime period.

“It was teamwork, definitely teamwork that led to the win,” Taylor

said. “We have just been reading each other so well. We just know

each other from being with each other so much.”

The Sailors appeared as if they were set to win in regulation when

they grabbed their first lead of the game, 8-7, after a four-meter

penalty shot by Ball. But Foothill answered with a goal with 25

seconds left in regulation. It seemed as if Foothill would take

control in overtime, but it was actually the Sailors who stepped up.

“Every single person was playing their best and no one gave up,”

Wheeler said.

*

There was estimated crowd of 500 at the Sailors-Knights matchup at

Newport Wednesday. Most of them stood, while others brought along

their chairs to sit. The Newport Harbor pool deck is still without

bleachers.

The renovated pool, that cost roughly $1 million, had its debut

Dec. 19, when Newport defeated rival Corona del Mar, 8-7. But, the

deck has not had bleachers because they are being repaired. Some are

fearful the bleachers would severely scrape the deck, said Tim Marsh,

the administrative director of facilities for the Newport-Mesa

Unified School District.

He said the matter will be cleared in the future, but there isn’t

a set date for that to happen. In all honesty, he said, the bleachers

are not a high priority, yet the bleachers will be put in at some

time.

“I understand it would be nice to have them out there,” Marsh

said. “But it’s not the end of something.”

The deck without the bleachers is merely an inconvenience. Still,

there are some problems resulting. The scorer’s table has become

crowded. The timekeepers and scoreboard operators, whom are high

school students, appeared very nervous and excited during the

Newport-Foothill game. They did not stop the clock after a goal once

and they also had a few other mistakes dealing with the shot clock.

That had much to do with the action, yet the congestion around the

table also caused distraction.