DAILY PILOT HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETE OF THE WEEK:

Less than 24 hours after helping the Newport Harbor High boys’ water polo team to the South Coast Tournament title, Myles Christian was at Fashion Island on Sunday.

But the Sailors’ senior goalie wasn’t at the mall looking for new clothes to celebrate the win. He wasn’t there to check out the newest movie.

He was there with his teammates to help clean up after the Race for the Cure event, which raised money for breast cancer research. Just like the tournament title, Christian helped set up the cleanup, too.

“On this team we have different committees, and I’m in charge of the social committee,” Christian explained. “I plan out team events, and every semester we try to do one community service event together. We were there for four hours, cleaning up.”

There’s always another time to watch movies, anyway. Christian can rent his favorite one, “Man on Fire,” on DVD.

Maybe he did just before the South Coast Tournament. Christian, the Daily Pilot Athlete of the Week, played last weekend like he was just as cool as Denzel Washington in the flick.

Christian had 14 saves and three steals in the final against El Toro, including two stops that were one-on-nobody, also known as a breakaway. The saves helped Newport Harbor win the championship in overtime, 8-5, on Sept. 22, marking the first time the Tars have won the tournament since 1999.

Christian said the victory came because his team, now the top-ranked squad in CIF Southern Section Division I, is finally starting to play up to its potential. That includes the goalie, Newport Harbor Coach Jason Lynch said.

“In all our previous games, he wasn’t playing how he was capable of playing,” Lynch said. “He was letting in some goals he shouldn’t have let in, and not making any great saves. He wasn’t making one or two great saves a game, one or two that he’s not expected to make. That can be the difference between a good goalie and a great goalie.”

Lynch knew that Christian had the tools to be a great goalie this season. At 6-foot-2, he covers a lot of room in the cage. And Christian got a good experience last year backing up Bryce McLain.

McLain, now at Pepperdine, was the co-Sunset League Player of the Year last season for Newport Harbor. But Christian got plenty of playing time in goal throughout the season, which left him ready to go for his senior year. Lynch said that Christian blocked 74% of opponents’ shots last year, adding that anything over 70% is considered very good.

“For me, it was a great opportunity,” Christian said. “It allowed me to get some good experience, some solid varsity playing time. Coming into my senior year, being one of the leaders on the team, I knew I had to play a big role. I’m definitely a lot more confident this year. It’s just get in and do what I need to do.”

Christian said he has been playing water polo for eight years. Prior to that, he played baseball, and he was quite a hitting star during his time with the Newport Harbor Baseball Assn.

There was a brief time before high school when Christian played both sports, but when it came time to pick one, he said the choice was relatively easy.

“I chose water polo, because I’ve been around water my whole life and just love it,” he said.

Hard not to love being a water polo goalie when you’re making saves on one-on-nobodies. That happened twice against the Chargers’ Spencer White in the South Coast Tournament championship game.

In the first quarter, Christian made the save outright. In the fourth quarter, he influenced White’s shot enough to make the El Toro senior deflect his shot off the bar.

At the time, the latter play prevented El Toro from taking a 5-4 lead.

“One-on-nobodies are kind of my strong suit,” Christian said. “I tend to do pretty well when we do those in practice. I just focused and tried not to jump on the first fake, and hopefully make contact with the ball. The main thing is to just stay calm.”

Christian lives with his dad and 12-year-old sister, Carly. His sister is already starting to establish herself as a water polo player, too, helping the Newport Water Polo Foundation under-12 girls to fifth place at the Junior Olympics in early August.

Myles, in turn, is also standing out more and more. When the Tars were in Hungary over the summer, they finished second place in a tournament and Christian was voted the most outstanding goalie.

During the Sailors’ most recent game, on Tuesday against Villa Park, Christian again came up big. He had 10 saves, including a critical one in the final seconds — with the Spartans on a man-advantage — to preserve a 6-5 win.

In “Man on Fire,” Washington’s character is hired as a bodyguard. Christian’s role isn’t too dissimilar, as the Tars’ last line of defense. And if he can keep his play also on fire, Harbor should continue to thrive.

“Goalies can only help you,” Lynch said. “If everyone is playing perfect defense, [the attacker] shouldn’t even get a shot off, or at least not a good shot. But they’re kids, they make mistakes. When those happen, it’s great for a goalie to come up big.”

MATT SZABO may be reached at (714) 966-4614 or by e-mail at matthew.szabo@latimes.com.