Sailors sweep tourney

Newport Harbor High swept the pool Sunday.

The boys at home. The girls at a site three miles away.

The two programs finished first at the California High School Water Polo Championships. The Sailors demonstrated they are frontrunners for CIF Southern Section Division I titles in the upcoming school year.

The boys defeated Mater Dei, 8-3, in the final, whereas the girls beat Los Alamitos, 11-6, at Corona del Mar High.

More tournament action is on tap for both programs.

The girls traveled Monday to Stockton, where Newport Harbor competes in the Women’s 20-and-under National Championships. The 16-team event begins today and ends Thursday.

The Sailors are going against club teams, older players, many who play in college. Going against more experienced players will certainly push Newport Harbor, which uses its high school team.

A player to look for is Kaleigh Gilchrist, who provided the scoring punch for the Sailors during their 6-0 record last week.

The future senior scored seven times in the final Sunday, and five the day before in the 8-3 quarterfinal victory against Corona del Mar. The Sea Kings placed seventh after beating Edison, 9-4.

Newport Harbor opens with SOCAL at St. Mary’s Aquatic Center at 9:10 a.m. before facing Stanford Red at 1:30 p.m. The Sailors are competing in the 20-and-under division.

Newport Harbor’s boys are preparing for the S&R; National Junior Olympics, which starts Saturday and ends July 28 with the championship at Stanford University.

The Sailors open the 18-and-under tournament with Lamorinda B at Gunn High in Palo Alto at 9:30 a.m. In the second game, the Sailors meet Elite at 4:10 p.m.

Zach Lucas said the Sailors are hoping the momentum from winning the California High School Water Polo Championship follows them up north.

“We get super fired up,” Lucas, an incoming senior, said of facing top club teams. “When we play against a better team, it gives us a chance to prove ourselves. From these experiences, we gain confidence.”

The confidence grew after rallying to reach Sunday’s finale.

The Sailors fell behind early to Loyola of Los Angeles in the semifinal. Seeing Loyola go ahead, 3-0, in the second period, the Sailors regrouped and won, 9-7.

Newport Harbor adjusted to Loyola’s six-on-five advantages, preventing it from going further ahead. Loyola managed to score seven times, only one other team during the tournament matched that total against the Sailors.

The Sea Kings took sixth after losing to Sacred Heart Prep of Atherton, 9-6.

“The semifinal game was the hardest,” said Blake Kelly, a future senior, who plans to attend UC Berkeley or UC Santa Barbara after he graduates. “We weren’t exactly ready. They came out with a full-force effort.”

Before the final against Mater Dei, the Sailors watched video from the previous game. Lucas said they reviewed what went wrong and right.

The rest of the day, practically everything went Newport Harbor’s way.

The key to the success was the defensive play by Kelly and goalie Chris Whitelegge. The offense took care of the rest. Newport jumped out to a 6-0 lead and never looked back.

“We wanted to show everyone what we were capable of doing,” said Lucas before looking toward the high school season. “I think it’s too early to tell [how we’ll do]. Hopefully we will do pretty well when the [fall] season comes.”