A great season has ended for the Carpinteria boys water polo team, which consistently impressed fans and made their coach proud.
The Carpinteria Warriors, the CIF Southern section’s Division 5 winner, lost 5-9 Saturday to the Palisades Dolphins, the Los Angeles Division 1 winner.
Coach Jon Otsuki said it “was a physical but fair match” between Carpinteria, the No. 1 seed host, and the No. 2 Palisades team.
“It was a rematch between the two teams where the Warriors had fought back and won by one goal earlier in the season,” Otsuki told the News-Press in an email.
“The Dolphins raced out to a 4-0 lead, which could have been much greater had Warrior Jacob Taff not made consecutive blocks including a 5-meter penalty shot in the first quarter of play,” Otsuki said. “At the conclusion of the first half, the Warriors had their backs against the wall as they trailed 1-6.
“The Warriors continued to fight, outscoring Palisades in the second half 4-3 but could not get enough momentum to overcome the large deficit. Neither team would give in as they both played predominantly with their starters.
“Asher Smith led the Warriors with two goals as Ian Thomas, Justin Main and Gavin Lohuis rounded out the scoring,” Otsuki said. “Defensively Main, Mateo Handall and Reyn Clayton each recorded 2 steals each. Zach Isaac notched two field blocks, and goalie Jacob Taff recorded 11 blocked shots.
“Palisades relied on their two ‘big men’ — Connor Guy and Eion Fox who scored 4 goals and 3 goals respectively,” Otsuki said.
“The school and community support for the boys program was outstanding,” the coach continued. “Although it is bittersweet to take the loss, it was an incredible season for the Warriors to win their first ever CIF Southern Section Division 5 title, (to become the) runner-up for CIF SoCal Division 3 championships and finish with an overall 25-5 record.
“Tactician coach Stephen Kim poured hours preparing the boys to reach their full potential,” Otsuki said.
SANTA BARBARA BOYS BASKETBALL BEATS ST. BONAVENTURE
The Santa Barbara High School boys basketball team defeated St. Bonaventure 51-40 Friday night.
“It was a tight back-and-forth game until four minutes were left in the fourth quarter,” Coach Corey Adam told the News-Press in an email. “We caught fire and started knocking down shots, outscoring them 23-11 in the fourth.
“This was big for our guys,” Adam said. “We are a very inexperienced team. We grew up a little bit tonight, playing our best ball in the fourth quarter in an extremely physical contest.
“We really made their best player, Dylan Benner, work for every one of his 17 points. It took him about 20 shots to get the 17 points, credit to a great overall team defensive effort,” the coach said.
“Freshman Luke Zuffelato paced us with 15 points, knocking down 8 of 10 Free Throws, Devin Stone chipped in 13, Andre Battle knocked down a couple 3’s to help the cause and played a solid all around game,” Adam said.
On Friday, the Dons will play Santa Margarita at Dos Pueblos.
SANTA BARBARA HIGH PLACES 13TH IN CROSS COUNTRY
The Santa Barbara High School cross country team placed 13th in the Division 2 Finals Saturday at Mt. San Antonio College.
Mira Costa won the title. Ventura, Ayala, Claremont, Hart, Dana Hills and Foothill rounded out the state meet qualifiers.
Jai Dawson of Dana Hills was the individual winner with a time of 14:55.
Santa Barbara runners were Oliver Levine (41-16:03), Blaise Snow (51-16:11), Andreas Dybdahl (57-16:17), Drew DeLozier (83-16:36), Xan Tassos (91-16:50), Colten McToldridge (100-17:03) and Bode Andrulaitis (110-17:14).
The team’s average time was 16:24.
“This is the first real championship racing experience for this group,” Dons Coach Olivia Perdices told the News-Press in an email. “They showed up and left everything they had out there today. Nobody really expected us to be here before the season started, but they believed in it and rose to the challenge.
“These guys did an amazing job buying in, sharing the work and making each other better from the beginning,” Perdices said. “There’s a lot to build on with the younger guys, and I can’t say enough about what our seniors have given our program.”
SIMI VALLEY DEFEATS BISHOP DIEGO IN BOYS BASKETBALL
The Bishop Diego boys basketball team lost what its coach described as a “hard fought game in overtime” Saturday to Simi Valley at the Moorpark “Keith Lawrence Showcase,” 71-63.
“Simi Valley came out fast and strong to take an early 10-point lead finishing with a 25-18 lead after the 1st quarter,” Coach James Coronado told the News-Press in an email.
“The Cardinals regrouped and kept their composure to take the lead at half, 37-33,” Coronado said. “The 2nd was close throughout with neither team taking more than a 5-point lead.
“I couldn’t be more proud of our guys and the way they fought all game,” the coach said. “This game was on me. We had a play set up to win in regulation and I didn’t do a good enough job of explaining it and setting up the guys to finish the game.
“The refs were allowing both teams to be physical, and we didn’t shy away from contact. Our ball movement was great again,” Coronado said. “We played well enough to win the game, but unfortunately, a couple of bounces and plays didn’t go our way. It definitely wasn’t for lack of effort.
“This was our fourth game in five days, and we went all out until the final whistle, again, couldn’t be more proud of them,” the coach said.
“The stellar trio of Kai Morphy, 24, Ty Williams, 22 and Bryan Trejo, 15 carried the scoring load for the Cardinals,” Coronado said. “Senior Brian Lopez hounded Simi’s point guard all game and disrupted their offense.”
NEWBURY PARK BEATS DOS PUEBLOS ON HARDWOOD
The Newbury Park boys basketball team defeated the visiting Dos Pueblos squad 76-67 Saturday.
The Chargers’ top scorers in their season opener were Joaquin Riker, 23; Kael Rillie, 15; and Joe Talarico, 10.
Newbury Park’s top scorers were Cooper Lucas, 22, and Caden Leff, 13.
“This was a good game for us today. Newbury Park could shoot and rebound the ball very well,” Coach Joe Zamora told the News-Press in an email. “It was a 1 possession game at half. We missed a couple shots we would normally make and gave the ball up too much.
“I was proud of the fact that our guys played with a lot of determination and effort.”
HARVARD-WESTLAKE BEATS DOS PUEBLOS IN GIRLS WATER POLO
The Harvard-Westlake girls water polo team beat the visiting Dos Pueblos team 14-8 Saturday.
The Chargers’ Ava Bennett, a junior, made three goals, one assist and two steals.
HanaLora Abel, a freshman, made one goal and two assists.
Megan Garner, a freshman and a goalie, made nine blocks and one assist.
email: dmason@newspress.com
