HB is No. 3 seed in Division 1

The CIF Southern Section Division 1 boys’ water polo playoffs promise intrigue this year, with some dynamic quarterfinal games on tap.

Huntington Beach, Corona del Mar and Newport Harbor hope to be in that mix. They are among 10 local boys’ water polo teams that have advanced to the postseason, as brackets were released Saturday.

Huntington Beach earned the No. 3 seed in Division 1. Other local seeded teams included Laguna Beach, the top-seeded team in Division 2, and Ocean View, which is seeded No. 2 in Division 6.

The Oilers come into the playoffs with a 12-game winning streak, but also perhaps the toughest draw of any of the top teams. The Sunset League champion Oilers (21-3), led by seniors Ethan Wojciechowski, Quinten Osborne, Ryan Hurst and goalie Patrick Saunders, play host to Damien in the first round Wednesday. A win could land them a quarterfinal game at defending Division 1 champion Mater Dei on Saturday. The Oilers also could tangle with Harvard-Westlake, the top-ranked team for most of the season, in the semifinals. They have lost twice to the Wolverines this season.

Harvard-Westlake fell to the No. 2 seed in Division 1 after losing to top-seeded Los Angeles Loyola on Wednesday, a result that gave the Cubs the Mission League title and bumped them all the way to the top seed. Reports are, however, that Harvard-Westlake could get standout Felix Brozyna-Vilm, who has missed most of the season with a knee injury, back for CIF.

Corona del Mar (19-7), the Pacific Coast League champion led by senior co-captains Tamir Avital and Will Rodosky, opens Wednesday with a home game against Mira Costa. Should the Sea Kings win, they’d likely play No. 4-seeded Trinity League champion Orange Lutheran in a quarterfinal game on Saturday.

Orange Lutheran rallied to beat the Sea Kings in the teams’ only previous meeting this season, in the third-place game of the South Coast Tournament on Sept. 24. First, CdM Coach Barry O’Dea has to worry about Mira Costa. He planned to scout the Mustangs on Saturday afternoon, as they played host to Loyola in both teams’ regular-season finale. Loyola won the game, 8-2.

“I thought we did what we needed to do to solidify a five or six spot,” said O’Dea, who was impressed with the depth in Division 1 in general. “I think the bracket’s good all the way across. I think it’s set up nicely across the board. It’s just going to be a really good Division 1 playoffs. It should be really interesting ... It’s going to come down to what kind of four-game run you can put together. You’ve got to have some luck. You don’t win a championship without having a little bit of luck on your side. It’s going to come down to defense, five-man, six-on-five and luck.”

Newport Harbor (19-8), led by senior co-captains Cole Brosnan and Nic Rimlinger, opens with a first-round game at El Toro on Wednesday. The game is a rematch of a nonleague game on Oct. 15, when the Sailors lost a four-goal lead in the second half but rallied for an 11-9 victory. Should Newport Harbor beat El Toro, the Sailors would likely have a home game against top-seeded Loyola on Saturday.

“We’re happy to be in CIF,” Newport Harbor Coach Ross Sinclair said. “I think we had a pretty good regular season. Coming up against El Toro, it’s going to be a tough game, especially having to play at El Toro. But yeah, I think it’s a good year of water polo, to see the parity in the top 10. I think this is going to be an exciting four-game stretch for everyone involved.

“We’ve done a really nice job of progressing as a team. Individually, I think we’ve had guys really grow, and as a team we’ve become a little bit more cohesive. We’re starting to play really well together and trust each other.”

Laguna Beach (18-8), the Orange Coast League champion, earned the top seed in Division 2 as expected. Agoura is the No. 2 seed, followed by Santa Margarita and Long Beach Wilson.

The Breakers, led by senior co-captains Judge Washer and Camden Benson and senior goalie Gordon Pike, play host to Santa Monica in the first round on Wednesday. They could match up with No. 8-ranked Hoover in a quarterfinal on Saturday.

Ocean View (17-11), which finished second in the Golden West League, is the No. 2 seed in Division 6. The Seahawks open up at home against Elsinore in the first round Wednesday. The other two local teams in the Division 6 draw are Los Amigos and Estancia.

Los Amigos (11-14), the Garden Grove League champion, will play host to the winner of a wild-card game between Xavier Prep and Cathedral on Wednesday. Xavier Prep is actually the top-ranked team in Division 6, but has to play in Tuesday’s wild-card game because it finished third place in the Desert Valley League.

Estancia (11-11), the third-place team from the Orange Coast League, plays host to Diamond Bar in another Division 6 wild-card game on Tuesday. Senior Jason Chesemore leads the Eagles, who would play at No. 3-seeded Garden Grove in the first round with a win over Diamond Bar.

Two other local teams also have wild-card games on Tuesday, those coming in Division 3. Edison (11-14), which finished third in the Sunset League, travels to play at Corona Santiago. Costa Mesa (21-7), which finished second in the Orange Coast League, plays at home against Woodbridge.

The Mustangs are led by players like senior Jacob Petersen, junior Augie Cunningham and sophomore Caedmon Fisher. Should they beat Woodbridge, they’d play at No. 2-seeded Redlands East Valley in the first round.

“We’re excited to have our first CIF home game in the last two years,” Costa Mesa assistant coach Dustin Serrano said. “We’d love to play on Wednesday [in the first round] instead of Tuesday [in the wild-card game], but we’ll make do. We’re excited that we got matched up with Woodbridge. We lost to them earlier in the year by two goals, but that was earlier in the year, and I think we’re a more developed team this time around.”

The other local team with a home game in the first round is Sage Hill. The Lightning (10-13), who finished second in the Academy League, will play host to St. John Bosco in its Division 4 opener on Tuesday. Coach Tom Norton said the game would either be at Irvine’s Woollett Aquatics Center or at University High.

Sage Hill almost won the league title this year but lost to champion Webb by a single goal, 9-8.

“We’re playing well,” Norton said. “We’re playing together as a team.”