It’s pool party for Sailors

Steve Virgen

Newport Harbor High’s quest for the CIF Southern Section Division I

girls water polo championship began with a 12-2 victory over visiting

Lakewood Thursday.

The Sailors’ championship mission also started with some fun, as

starters turned into cheerleaders and reserves did their best to make

the most of their playoff experience. Newport Harbor (21-3), the CIF

Division I top seed, built a 9-1 lead with 5:47 left in the third

quarter, and Sailors Coach Bill Barnett took out all the starters and

inserted players who seemed aching to compete.

The Newport reserves outscored Lakewood, 3-1, down the stretch and

gave their teammates plenty to cheer about.

With 5:44 left in the game, junior Amanda Barto scored on an

assist from sophomore Kally Lucas.

“That felt really great,” said Barto, who was called up from the

junior varsity team for the CIF playoffs. “I was really excited. That

just felt so good.”

Senior Jennifer Beech and Lucas also scored in the fourth quarter

for the Sailors.

Newport’s victory put the Sailors one step closer to the finals.

They will face El Toro in a quarterfinal Saturday at 3:15 p.m. The

site will be determined by a coin flip today.

Last year, the Sailors, who won the CIF Division I title in 1999,

were ousted in the semifinals by Santa Margarita. This season,

Barnett said any of the top four seeds, Newport, four-time defending

champion Foothill, Los Alamitos and Long Beach Wilson, are capable of

winning the CIF Division I championship. However, the Sailors will

need to increase their intensity as the playoffs continue.

Since the Lancers did not pose a threat, Newport Harbor played

relaxed.

“I don’t think some of the girls played with a lot of intensity,”

Barnett said. “They thought it was going to be an easy game. I don’t

think we executed as well we should have.”

Barnett was talking particularly of the Sailors’ first half, but

he was pleased his players got the job done and still performed well

enough to get everyone in the game.

“Everyone (18 players) got to play,” Barnett said. “That’s what

you like to see.”

Newport Harbor had five of its shots bounce off the cross bar in

the first quarter, but the Sailors still managed to earn a 5-1 lead

before the end of the period. Senior Jessica Ball, bound for the

University of Michigan, got things started with a goal at four meters

70 seconds into the game.

Junior Anne Belden put Newport up, 2-0, scoring on a counterattack

30 seconds after Ball’s goal. Feeling a lot more healthy than last

week, senior Carolyn Conway put in her only goal on an assist from

junior Melissa Wheeler. Conway, who will continue her career at

Indiana, battled the flu last week.

Wheeler followed Conway’s goal with a score of her own, finishing

on a breakaway and on an assist from Belden.

Lakewood (16-9) got on the scoreboard with a goal from Jennifer

Binggeli with 1:55 left in the opening quarter, but 66 seconds later,

the Sailors answered with a goal from Ball.

“Since it’s [the CIF playoffs], we’re starting to rev up more,”

said Ball, who scored three goals and shared game-high honors with

Belden. “Now that we have played this first game we’ve come to

realize that [the playoffs] are here and we’re ready for it.”

Belden hit an outside shot with 4:44 left before halftime for a

6-1 lead. She also scored on a six-on-five opportunity. Junior

Ashling Taylor also made good on a Newport power play, as the Sailors

went 2 for 2 with the extra player.

Just before Barnett took out his starters, Ball converted on a

four-meter penalty shot. Conway drew the four-meter foul when she

recovered a deflection from a Belden shot that was tipped away by

Lakewood’s goalie, Amber Dill, who had seven saves.

The Sailors’ senior goalies, Kim Housepian and Terin Cottam,

recorded three saves each.

*--*

CIF Division I

First round

Newport Harbor 12, Lakewood 2

Score by Quarters

Lakewood 1 0 1 0 -- 2

Newport 5 3 1 3 -- 12

Lakewood -- Binggeli 1, Wampole 1. Saves -- Dill 7. Newport -- Ball 3, Belden 3, Conway 1, Wheeler

1, Taylor 1, Barto 1, Beech 1, Lucas 1. Saves --

Housepian 3, Cottam 3.

*--*