Sailors isolated in loss

Rick Devereux

Water polo is a team sport where a group can rely on one another for

support and help. The Los Alamitos High boys water polo team relied

heavily on the play of individuals to give the Griffins an 11-8

victory over Newport Harbor in the third-place game of the South

Coast tournament.

“They created a lot of isolation situations for him,” Sailors

Coach Jason Lynch said. “Our individual defense was not as good as I

wanted.”

Los Al took an early, 2-0 lead before Newport’s Jovan Vranes

blasted a shot with 3:24 left in the first quarter. That’s when the

Griffins focused on centering the ball at two meters.

Clayton Snyder scored twice to extend Los Al’s lead to 4-1.

Newport cut into the lead 49 seconds later when Brett Auer set up

freshman Nate Castillo’s left-handed goal.

“He’s the best left-handed player I’ve ever hand,” Lynch said

about Castillo. “He has all the tools and he’s only 15. He could make

the national team someday.”

Snyder had a spinning backhanded goal with three seconds left on

the shot clock for Los Al to increase the Griffin lead to 5-3.

Telford Cottam collected a cross-pool pass from Vranes and scored

from the right side on a six-on-five opportunity with less than a

minute left in the second quarter to make it a one-goal game at the

half.

The Sailors converted three of the four man-advantages they had in

the game. Los Alamitos scored five goals on five Newport exclusions.

“Our goal was to minimize our ejections, and we did,” Lynch said.

Los Al scored twice to open the third quarter with a 7-4 lead, but

Clay Jorth pounded in a shot for Newport Harbor to cut into the lead.

The Griffins ran a backdoor isolation play on consecutive

possessions, both times resulting in great scoring opportunities for

Kevin Guerin. Senior goaltender Michael Robinson made a quick save on

the first attempt, but Guerin was able to find the back of the net

the second time.

Jorth scored his second goal of the third quarter to make it 8-6

in favor of Los Al, but Scott Davidson skipped a ball in with less

than 11 seconds left in the frame for the Griffins. Castillo scored

from mid-pool as the quarter ended after a foul pulled the defender

off him.

Another lob pass to Guerin resulted in another Los Al score and

Vranes scored on a man-advantage in the fourth quarter for the 11-8

final.

*--*

South Coast tournament Third place

Los Alamitos 11, Newport Harbor 8

Score by Quarters

Los Alamitos 3 2 4 2 - 11

Newport 2 2 3 1 - 8

Los Al -- Snyder 3, Brock 3, Guerin 2, Davidson 2,

Levin 1. Saves -- Simon -- 11. Newport -- Vranes

2, Castillo 2, Jorth 2, Cottam 1. Saves --

Robinson 3.

*--*