Sailors lose on buzzer-beater

Bryce Alderton

Santa Margarita High girls water polo coach Kevin Ricks kept things

in perspective, despite watching the Eagles send visiting Newport

Harbor to only its second loss of the season on a buzzer-beater mere

minutes earlier in Friday’s nonleague clash at Saddleback College.

“Newport is the best team we’ve faced all year, we just tried to

play with them,” Ricks said. “It’s always great to get a win over

Newport, Foothill, CdM, Santa Barbara ... but in the scheme of

things, the Irvine tournament [Thursday through Feb. 5 at Irvine

High] will determine a lot for CIF [Southern Section Division I]

seedings. There is still a lot of water polo left to play.”

The Eagles, though, began the final push to the playoffs on a high

after junior Brooke Figge’s skip shot from 10 meters out, as time

expired, rattled into the cage, giving Santa Margarita an 11-10

victory over the top-ranked Sailors.

A momentary silence engulfed the pool and surrounding bleachers

after the buzzer sounded as players from both teams looked to

referees, who signaled Figge’s shot beat the horn.

The Eagles, ranked third in CIF Division I heading into the

contest, quickly swam to the pool’s edge amid mild cheers while

Newport players appeared stunned. One Sailor threw the ball into the

cage in frustration.

“At first I thought it was the shot clock,” Newport junior Kally

Lucas, who scored one goal, said of the horn. “I knew [Figge] had

beat the clock because the ball left her hand.”

Santa Margarita freshman Kacey Anderson corralled a deflection

after an entry pass into two meters and found Figge -- stationed at

the top -- with two seconds left. The junior, with a hand in her

face, soon had her third goal of the game.

“We’ve been training for this day,” said Figge. “When we played in

Santa Barbara [the Sailors defeated the Eagles, 5-2, in a Tournament

of Champions semifinal] we didn’t play with all our intensity.

[Friday] we were pumped and ready for this game. I think [the

Sailors] underestimated us.”

Figge’s goal helped derail overtime and also stopped the Sailors’

second half surge, which featured six goals compared to the Eagles’

four in the final two periods.

Newport (17-2) took its only lead at 10-9 with 3 minutes, 53

seconds left in the game when senior Amanda Barto tallied the third

of her three goals on a pass from Leah Robertson on the Sailors’ only

6-on-5 advantage of the contest. Robertson drew the ejection. The

Eagles finished 2 of 4 with the player advantage.

Santa Margarita junior Darby Anderson, who scored a game-high six

goals -- five in the first half, one-timed a pass from Kacey Anderson

to even it at 10 with 1:39 left. The Sailors had a chance to regain

the lead on a breakaway but a shot skipped off the crossbar.

Senior Ashling Taylor, who led the Sailors with five goals,

tallied a steal with 40 seconds left to create another counterattack,

but the Eagles (15-5) retreated on defense enough to muffle Newport’s

offensive setup.

Taylor then blocked a shot attempt on the wing with under 10

seconds remaining as a scramble for possession ensued before winding

up in Figge’s hand.

Lucas, who led the Sailors with four assists, said the Sailors dug

their own hole in the first half as the Eagles built leads of 6-2 and

7-3 before entering halftime up, 7-4.

“We started slow and were not in the game,” Lucas said. “You can

be beat if you don’t come out strong.”

Melissa Wheeler (one goal) and Robertson each tallied four steals

while Barto added three assists and two steals.

Santa Margarita sophomore goalkeeper Stephanie Peckham made 13

saves.

Nonleague

Santa Margarita 11,

Newport Harbor 10

Score by Quarters

*--*

Newport 2 2 3 3 -- 10

SM 3 4 1 3 -- 11

*--*

Newport -- Taylor 5, Barto 3, Lucas 1, Wheeler 1. Saves -- Layton

4, Nelson 2.

SM -- D. Anderson 6, Figge 3, K. Anderson 1, Palase 1. Saves --

Peckham 13.