Boys water polo: Sea Kings dry off Artists, 11-4

Richard Dunn

LOS ALAMITOS - Many don’t seem to realize it, but Corona del Mar

High boys water polo coach John Vargas mentioned it Saturday after his

team’s CIF Southern Section Division II semifinal victory over Laguna

Beach, 11-4.

The Sea Kings, despite the growing number of Pacific Coast League and

CIF Division II opponents that do not want to hear the words uttered, are

a “young team.”

“We really only have three seniors who play in Garrett Bowlus, Chriss

Street and Chase Emery, and the rest of our team is made up of juniors

and sophomores,” Vargas said, hinting of a possible dynasty down the

road, as the Sea Kings prepare to defend their CIF Division II

championship Wednesday at 3:15 p.m. against PCL rival University at

Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool.

Corona del Mar, which defeated University in PCL action on Oct. 25,

12-5, advanced to the title game with an easy win over Laguna Beach,

another league competitor, at the Los Alamitos USA Aquatic Center.

“We felt if we came out strong against these guys, we could totally

dictate the game, and how we played offensively, we controlled it, too,”

said Vargas, whose top-seeded squad (21-5) outscored the Artists in the

first half, 7-2, then focused on defense in the third quarter, before

burying the designated hosts with four goals in the fourth quarter.

Bowlus, who scored eight goals in CdM’s quarterfinal victory over

Edison, led the Sea Kings with three goals, two steals and a deflected

shot attempt. Juniors Michael March and Bobby Messenger, and sophomore

two-meter specialist Artie Dorr, had two goals each for the Sea Kings.

Street and junior Marcello Pantuliano each scored one goal for CdM,

while Dorr, March and Pantuliano had steals.

“I thought this game would be pretty tough for us, but I definitely

think we stepped it up,” said Vargas, whose team had defeated Laguna

Beach earlier this season, 9-5, when the Artists played without standout

Kirk Ziegler.

March and Bowlus opened the scoring for CdM, then Laguna Beach’s

Trevor Lyle scored his first of three goals on a lob shot with 1:00 left

in the first quarter.

However, before quarter’s end, Dorr scored on a backhand shot from two

meters to finish a counterattack with 0:48 left, giving CdM a 3-1 lead.

“I felt our team in the first half was intimidated,” Laguna Beach

Coach Rick Scott said. “We were a little hesitant and played slow, and we

didn’t play our game on defense, because we allowed Artie to get those

goals out of set. My guys were just too slow getting back, and we were

not as intense as we should have been.”

After two second-quarter goals by Bowlus and a rocket from the outside

on a goal by Pantuliano, Dorr kissed the back of the cage again on a

backhand shot from two meters with 1:08 to play in the first half,

increasing Corona del Mar’s lead to 7-2.

Bowlus scored on a penalty shot to open the second quarter, then gave

CdM a 5-1 advantage with an impressive two-meter goal on the

counterattack, fighting off two defenders to score.

Corona del Mar’s goalies, junior Sherwin Kim (three saves) and

sophomore Beau Stockstill (six), who played the second half, stopped

almost half of Laguna Beach’s 21 shots on goal.

In the fourth quarter, Corona del Mar upped its advantage to 8-3 on

March’s left-handed outside shot with 4:32 left. After a goal by Laguna

Beach, Messenger scored twice in the final period and Street crowned the

powerful CdM counterattack with a goal in the waning seconds.

CIF DIVISION II SEMIFINALS

Corona del Mar 11, Laguna Beach 4

Score by Quarters

Corona del Mar 3 4 0 4 - 11

Laguna Beach 1 1 1 1 - 4

Corona del Mar - Bowlus 3, Messenger 2, Dorr 2, March 2, Street 1,

Pantuliano 1. Saves - Kim 3, Stockstill 6.

Laguna Beach - Lyle 3, Roguly 1. Saves - Bartels 5.