Tars leave it in pool

The Bruins capture their fifth straight CIF championship despite stellar effort from Sailors.LONG BEACH -- When the Newport Harbor High boys’ water polo team won its last CIF title in 2000, it halted Long Beach Wilson’s four-year title streak.

Newport almost did it again.

But in a fast-paced game with relentless action, the Bruins pulled away in the third quarter and emerged with a 14-11 victory to claim their fifth consecutive CIF Southern Section Division I championship in front of an overflow crowd at Belmont Plaza Pool.

The teams traded leads five times in the first three quarters. Newport had leads of 7-5 and 9-8 before Wilson came back and took the lead for good.

After Clay Jorth scored from the perimeter gave Newport a 9-8 lead with 4:11 left in the third quarter, the Bruins went on a 6-2 run to close out the game.

“I think the third quarter was the difference,” Newport Coach Jason Lynch said. “We outplayed them in the first half -- we were in control. But we started rushing things in the third quarter. Turnovers led to counterattacks.”

Wilson’s Kyle Wootten scored with the man advantage to tie the score at 9-9, then Anthony Artukovich scored on a counterattack to give the Bruins (26-3) a 10-9 lead with 2:43 left in the third quarter.

The Sailors (25-5) pulled to within 12-11 when Telford Cottam -- who finished with three goals -- scored on a counterattack with 4:04 left in regulation time.

But Bruins two-meter man Charles Wright, who had a game-high five goals, scored on the man advantage, then added the crusher -- a fade-away lob over the head of Newport goalkeeper Bryce McLain into the net to give Wilson a 14-11 lead with 2:47 left in the game.

Newport’s Brett Auer (two goals) hit the post twice down the stretch and Wilson escaped with the win, succeeding in their “drive for five.”

“In the fourth quarter, we made two stops right away, but it was too little, too late,” Lynch said. “It was close all the way, but we had to scramble at the end and Long Beach Wilson played with poise.”

Jorth, Cottam and Parker Gregory paced the Sailors with three goals each. Gregory scored the first three goals of the game for Newport.

Auer’s backhand goal from two meters gave the Sailors a 7-5 lead with 2:28 left in the second quarter, but Wright got behind the Newport defense to pull Wilson to within 7-6 before halftime.

Newport was 4 for 7 with the man advantage and 1 for 1 with the two-man advantage. But the Sailors were 0 for 3 on the power play in the fourth quarter, when they hit the post three times and the Bruins came up with two field blocks.

The Bruins were 6 for 9 with the extra man, including 4 for 4 in the second half.

With the win, the Bruins tied the Sailors’ all-time record of 11 CIF Division I titles in boys’ water polo.

It was Newport Harbor’s first appearance in the title game since 2000. The Sailors has lost the three previous seasons in the quarterfinals before breaking through this season.

Despite the loss, the general feeling among the Sailors was that they gave it all they had.

“I’m not upset at all,” Jorth said. “It would have been better to win, but we left it in the pool today.”

CIF Southern Section Division I

Final

Long Beach Wilson 14, Newport Harbor 11

Score by Quarters