Sailors dethrone Knights

Steve Virgen

As the seconds ticked away closer to Newport Harbor High’s first CIF

Southern Section girls water polo title since 1999, Coach Bill Barnett became ecstatic.

He stood up from his chair and began to pump his fist. And when

the game ended and the Sailors earned an emotional 10-8 victory over

four-time defending Foothill, he joyously jumped into the water.

Later, he held several of his players tightly.

“Fantastic,” Barnett said of the Sailors’ win that came in front

of about 1,800 at Belmont Plaza Tuesday night. “Every CIF [final]

victory is an awesome experience.”

Newport Harbor (27-3), the Division I No. 1 seed, seemed to come

up with a stronger defense than Foothill, which is known for its

aggressiveness on defense. The Sailors also received stellar

performances from senior Carolyn Conway, who, despite a bruised nose,

scored a game-high five goals, and senior Jessica Ball, who added

four goals.

Ball also recorded three steals, contributed one assist and drew

two ejections. She also provided the Sailors with extraordinary

leadership.

“Jessica was the best leader I have ever had, boys or girls,” said

Barnett, who is in 38th season coaching at Newport. “[The Sailors]

worked extremely hard. They really deserved to win. This has been one

of the nicest groups I have worked with. I’d like to credit that

Ball.” Ball was primarily defending Foothill standout Jillian Kraus,

a junior national team player, throughout the game. Ball, bound for

the University of Michigan, cried tears of joy afterward.

“It’s perfect,” Ball said of ending the Knights’ reign of CIF

Division I. “It’s an absolutely amazing great feeling. It took

teamwork, solely teamwork, to win. We couldn’t have won this game

without being united.” Ball, as well as junior Anne Belden and Conway

were primarily responsible for the Sailors’ dynamic fourth-quarter

performance. Newport led, 7-6, after three quarters, but took its

biggest lead of the game, scoring two unanswered goals in less than

two minutes to begin the fourth.

Ball assisted Belden, who just beat the shot clock and scored on

an outside shot. Then, shortly after a Melissa Wheeler steal, senior

Sarah Mutt fed Conway at two meters and Conway used her power to find

the back of the cage, giving the Sailors a 9-6 lead.

But Foothill pulled to within, 9-8, when Kraus scored 10 seconds

after Conway’s goal and Kelsey Holshouser made good on a six-on-five

opportunity with 80 seconds left in the game.

From there, Newport Harbor stalled and ran out the shot clock,

giving Foothill (26-4) the ball back with 45 seconds remaining. The

Knights worked the ball into Kraus, a junior national team player who

got a shot off from four meters with 21 seconds left, but senior

goalie Terin Cottam came up with the save.

“This is what every high school water polo player looks forward

to,” Cottam said of winning. “We accomplished it.” With five seconds

left, Foothill committed a four-meter foul and Ball put away the

subsequent penalty shot.

The Division I final was intense and the climax came at its fourth

quarter when the players seemingly emptied all their energy. Conway,

who began the game wearing a protective mask but went without it the

last three quarters, overcame even more pain late in the fourth

quarter.

With 2:22 remaining, she took an elbow from Kraus. Kraus was

ejected for the foul. During the referee timeout, Newport fans

chanted, “Carolyn,” as she recovered and swam back to her teammates.

“[My nose and face] is hurting, but I’ll worry about that later,”

said Conway, who shot 5 for 8. “There’s no better feeling than this.

This is amazing. We not only broke their [49-game winning streak],

but we also ended their CIF run [of four straight]. We ended their

year. That’s all I have to say.” The Knights led twice during the

game, at 2-1, and, 3-2. But Conway scored on a backhand shot with

three minutes left in the second quarter for the 3-3 tie. And, Ball

scored at four meters on an assist from Belden with 39 seconds left

before halftime, giving Newport a lead it would not lose. Conway

scored twice and Ball added a goal in the third and up to that point,

Conway and Ball had accounted for all seven of Newport’s goals.

“You can’t say enough about them,” Barnett said of Conway and

Ball. “I also thought one of the keys for us was Melissa Wheeler. We

stuck her on [Grace Reynolds] and she did great.” Newport was 1 for

11 the last time the teams met when Foothill defeated the Sailors,

7-6. The Tars went of 3 for 7 on power plays, while the Knights were

1 for 3.

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CIF Division I

Final Newport Harbor 10, Foothill 8

Score by Quarters

Newport 1 3 3 3 - 10

Foothill 2 1 3 2 - 8

Newport - Conway 5, Ball 4, Belden 1. Saves -

Housepian 5, Cottam 2. Foothill - Kraus 3, Miller

2, Holshouser 2, Reynolds 1. Saves - Krumpholz 7.

*--*