Playing favorites

Patrick Laverty

Newport Harbor High and Corona del Mar, as expected, were awarded the

No. 1 seed in Division I and Division II, respectively, when the CIF

Southern Section girls water polo playoff brackets were announced

Monday at the CIF office in Los Alamitos.

“The No. 1 seed is all you can ever ask for,” Newport Harbor Coach

Bill Barnett said. “It makes things easier way down the pipeline.”

The Sailors (20-3) earned to No. 1 seed over four-time defending

champion Foothill (23-3), the No. 2 team in Division I. Newport

Harbor ended their Sea View League rivals’ 49-game winning streak

earlier this season and defeated the Knights twice in three games

this season. A fourth meeting, in the CIF championship game at

Belmont Plaza in Long Beach on March 2 isn’t out of the question, but

both teams will need to win three playoff games first.

Newport Harbor opens play at home Thursday against the winner of

today’s Lakewood-Bell Gardens wild-card game. Both teams finished

third in their league, Lakewood finishing the season 15-8 and Bell

Gardens compiling an 8-18 mark.

In the second round, the Sailors would face the winner of the El

Toro-Fountain Valley matchup. Newport Harbor defeated El Toro, 14-5,

earlier this season.

A possible semifinal opponent for Harbor would be No. 4 seed Long

Beach Wilson (20-6). Harbor defeated Wilson, 6-3, this season.

“We’re going to worry about ourselves and how we’re playing,”

Barnett said.

Senior Carolyn Conway leads the Sailors entering the playoffs with

74 goals, while junior Anne Belden has added 62 this season. Belden

has also contributed 59 steals and 31 assists, while senior Jessica

Ball has 35 assists and 59 steals.

Corona del Mar has won two CIF Southern Section titles in a row,

including the Division II crown last season. The Sea Kings (16-9),

champions of the Sea View League, will open defense of their title in

first-round play Thursday, playing host to the winner of today’s

Western-Sunny Hills wild-card game. Both teams finished third in

their respective leagues.

In the second round, the Sea Kings would face either Katella

(17-6) or Villa Park (20-8). The latter played Corona del Mar close

before losing 5-3 this season.

Fourth-seeded Troy (21-3) would possibly await in the semifinals,

while El Dorado (11-10) is the No. 3 seed and Peninsula (22-4) is

seeded second. But Sea Kings Coach Aaron Chaney said Canyon of

Anaheim (17-10) is also worthy of a seed. It finished in a three-way

tie with Villa Park and El Dorado for first place in the Century

League, but lost a coin toss Canyon could meet Troy in the second

round.

“Our side of the bracket [which includes Troy and Canyon] is

tougher than the other side,” Chaney said. “But if you want to win it

all ...”

Costa Mesa (16-12) finished the regular season ranked No. 5 in

Division VI and just missed earning the fourth and final seed in the

division.

Still, the Mustangs will play host to a wild-card game winner in

the first round Thursday. Mesa will find out their opponent today

when Los Amigos (4-6) battles Warren (6-7).

Costa Mesa could face No. 4 seed Jurupa Valley (18-9) in the

second round.