Coronado coach Randy Burgess didn’t want his team to reach the finals of the S & R Sport Water Polo Cup thanks to a forfeit.
But that was not the No. 1 reason he favored the restart the Islanders’ semifinal match against top-ranked Newport Harbor on Saturday, when the subject of a forfeit surfaced at the William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center in Irvine.
“We’re here to win games but our No. 1 priority is … to learn and prepare for (the playoffs in) November,” the veteran coach said Saturday.
And as it worked out Coronado and Newport Harbor, they both got in some extra preparation.
Here’s the recap:
After the first period of the semifinal match between Newport Harbor and Coronado, there was discussion that the Sailors were playing with two players who had received game misconducts against Long Beach Wilson in the quarterfinals Friday.
Game misconducts carry a one-game suspension, which mean both players would have been ineligible for the semifinals.
After the first period ended tied at 3, Newport Harbor and Coronado restarted their match without the two Newport Harbor players. The Sailors won, 10-6.
Miramonte coach James Lathrop, whose squad lost in the finals to Newport Harbor, said he liked the decision to replay the Newport Harbor-Coronado semifinal.
SPRAGUE TO BE HONORED
Sunny Hills will honor legendary former water polo coach Jim Sprague on Saturday as part of its first alumni game. The matches will be played starting at 10 a.m.
Olympian Omar Amr is expected dozens of alumni in attendance.
Sprague is now assistant at Los Alamitos. He also is running this week’s Hank Vellekamp No. 1 Tournament, which honors his late assistant coach at Sunny Hills.
TRITONS SHORTHANDED
San Clemente played the S & R Sport Water Polo Cup without starter Chase Yu (bruised ribs). Tritons coach Marc Parker hopes the recent El Toro transfer can return to action Thursday when his team plays at South Coast League rival Dana Hills.
STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS
Flyers on the USA Water Polo-sanctioned California boys state high school championships were distributed at the S & R Sport Water Polo Cup. The tournament is scheduled for Nov. 27-29 at Woollett. All division finalists throughout the state will be automatically invited.
The tournament also will invite at-large teams with plans to create two flights of 24 teams each. Teams will be guaranteed six games.
The entry free is $500. For more information, contact magnificent7@sbcglobal.net.
