CdM takes ninth

After losing to Coronado Thursday to get bumped out of the

championship race, the Corona del Mar High girls water polo team won

three straight games in the Irvine Southern California championships,

culminating in a ninth-place, 6-4 win over Los Alamitos Saturday at

Irvine High.

Employing a different strategy, Sea Kings’ Coach Aaron Chaney sat

some of his starters in games following the loss to Coronado, ranked

No. 2 in CIF San Diego Section Division II by the San Diego

Union-Tribune.

But after the Sea Kings (17-6, 3-0 in the Pacific Coast League),

No. 1 in CIF Southern Section Division II, posted back-to-back wins

against Arlington Friday and Villa Park Saturday to advance to the

ninth-place game, Chaney decided it was time to go back to the norm.

“The starters proved themselves again and so I put them all back

in against Los Alamitos,” Chaney said.

The old routine prevailed, and CdM walked away with a ninth-place

victory out of 32 of Southern California’s top girls water polo

teams.

“I’m really satisfied with the total team effort from everybody

during this tournament,” Chaney said.

Foothill defeated Santa Margarita in the championship game and

Newport Harbor took home third place, which will likely again shift

the CIF rankings in Division I after Santa Margarita bumped Newport

Harbor out of the top spot last week.

But the Sea Kings have stayed constant this season, remaining No.

1 in Division II from the beginning until now.

CdM will play at Laguna Beach Wednesday at 4 p.m., with a Pacific

Coast League title on the line.