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  • Laguna's Natalie Selin scores against Los Alamitos during the Breakers'...

    Laguna's Natalie Selin scores against Los Alamitos during the Breakers' 12-5 victory over the Griffins in the semifinals of the CIF-SS Division 1 girls water polo playoffs at the Woollett Aquatics Center in Irvine Wednesday night.

  • Laguna's Makenzie Fischer scores her fifth goal of the game...

    Laguna's Makenzie Fischer scores her fifth goal of the game against Los Alamitos during the Breakers' 12-5 victory over the Griffins in the semifinals of the CIF-SS Division 1 girls water polo playoffs at the Woollett Aquatics Center in Irvine Wednesday night.

  • Laguna's Makenzie Fischer blocks a pass by Los Alamitos's Becca...

    Laguna's Makenzie Fischer blocks a pass by Los Alamitos's Becca Corb during the Breakers' 12-5 victory over the Griffins in the semifinals of the CIF-SS Division 1 girls water polo playoffs at the Woollett Aquatics Center in Irvine Wednesday night.

  • Laguna's Aria Fischer draws a penalty shot while being fouled...

    Laguna's Aria Fischer draws a penalty shot while being fouled by Los Alamitos' Ella Weber during the Breakers' 12-5 victory over the Griffins in the semifinals of the CIF-SS Division 1 girls water polo playoffs at the Woollett Aquatics Center in Irvine Wednesday night.

  • Laguna's Aria Fischer prepares to shoot past Los Alamitos' Lauren...

    Laguna's Aria Fischer prepares to shoot past Los Alamitos' Lauren Dvonch during the Breakers' 12-5 victory over the Griffins in the semifinals of the CIF-SS Division 1 girls water polo playoffs at the Woollett Aquatics Center in Irvine Wednesday night.

  • Laguna goalkeeper Holly Parker tries to stop a Los Alamitos...

    Laguna goalkeeper Holly Parker tries to stop a Los Alamitos shot during the Breakers' 12-5 victory over the Griffins in the semifinals of the CIF-SS Division 1 girls water polo playoffs at the Woollett Aquatics Center in Irvine Wednesday night.

  • Laguna's Brighid Burnes defends Los Alamitos' Sarah Seipker during the...

    Laguna's Brighid Burnes defends Los Alamitos' Sarah Seipker during the Breakers' 12-5 victory over the Griffins in the semifinals of the CIF-SS Division 1 girls water polo playoffs at the Woollett Aquatics Center in Irvine Wednesday night.

  • Laguna Beach head coach Ethan Demato talks with his team...

    Laguna Beach head coach Ethan Demato talks with his team during the Breakers' 12-5 victory over Los Alamitos in the semifinals of the CIF-SS Division 1 girls water polo playoffs at the Woollett Aquatics Center in Irvine Wednesday night.

  • Laguna goalkeeper Holly Parker makes a saves during the Breakers'...

    Laguna goalkeeper Holly Parker makes a saves during the Breakers' 12-5 victory over the Griffins in the semifinals of the CIF-SS Division 1 girls water polo playoffs at the Woollett Aquatics Center in Irvine Wednesday night.

  • Laguna's Cara Borkovec tries to sneak a shot past the...

    Laguna's Cara Borkovec tries to sneak a shot past the Los Alamitos defense during the Breakers' 12-5 victory over the Griffins in the semifinals of the CIF-SS Division 1 girls water polo playoffs at the Woollett Aquatics Center in Irvine Wednesday night.

  • Newport Harbor's Rachel Whitelegge, left, looks to take a shot...

    Newport Harbor's Rachel Whitelegge, left, looks to take a shot past Santa Barbara's Kristina Garcia during Wednesday night's CIF-SS Division 1 semifinal at Woollett Aquatics Center. Newport Harbor won, 11-10.

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Dan Albano. Sports HS Reporter.

// MORE INFORMATION: Staff Mug Shot taken August 26, 2010 : by KATE LUCAS, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER.

IRVINE – Newport Harbor’s girls water polo team extended its playoff run Wednesday night by winning another close game against a higher-seeded team.

And the Sailors sealed it with another defensive stand after their offense nearly let their lead slip away.

Goalie Carlee Kapana reached high to block a redirect in front of the cage in the closing seconds as the seventh-seeded Sailors held off No. 6 Santa Barbara, 11-10, in a CIF-SS Division 1 semifinal at the William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center.

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Click here to see the photos from this game

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Newport Harbor (23-7) took an 11-10 lead with 32 seconds left on a cross-cage lob shot by Kate Pipkin and then got a save from Kapana before calling timeout with nine seconds left in the fourth.

But as the Sailors tried to run out the clock, Santa Barbara’s Kristina Garcia stole a pass in the Newport Harbor end in the middle of the pool. Garcia then passed to Betsy Hendrix, who found Anna Brummett in front of the goal for a redirect on the final play.

Kapana made the save, sending Newport Harbor to its third consecutive Division 1 final. The Sailors will play No. 1-seeded Laguna Beach in the finals Saturday at 1 p.m. at Woollett.

“They’re always finding a way to get to this game (the finals) every year,” Laguna Beach coach Ethan Damatosaid of Newport Harbor.  “It’s hard to put words to that. … It’s like a mystic. It’s the Newport mystic.”

In the quarterfinals Saturday, Newport Harbor knocked off No. 2 Foothill, 5-4, on a late steal by Heidi Fults on a kickout pass from center. On Wednesday, it was Kapana’s turn to make the dramatic defensive play at the end.

“My heart literally dropped. I can’t believe they got that shot off,” Kapana said of Santa Barbara. “We had two girls on her.”

Kapana initially thought Hendrix was going to shoot from the perimeter but the senior made an extra pass for arguably a higher-percentage shot.

“She has such a good shot,” Kapana said of Hendrix. “Then she passed it. I was relieved I blocked it.”

Newport Harbor will play in the Division 1 finals for the ninth time under Coach Bill Barnett but likely the first as a No. 7 seed.

“It’s really shocking,” Kapana said of the playoff run. “We knew we could make it if we tried really hard, and we did.”

Said Barnett, “Well, we beat the teams we had to beat, that’s all I can say. Some where along the line, no matter what seed we were, we’re going to have to play Foothill. I thought we were going to play Corona (del Mar).”

Pipkin paced Newport Harbor’s offense with four goals while Christina O’Beck, Fults and Chanel Schilling each added two apiece. Kapana made six saves in the second half while Cleo Harrington made three in the first half.

The wild ending included both teams scoring penalty shots in the final minute of the fourth. Schilling drew a penalty shot with 58 seconds left that Pipkin converted for a 10-9 lead. But Santa Barbara answered with its own penalty shot with 40 seconds left.

In the other Division 1 semifinal:

Laguna Beach 12, Los Alamitos 5: Makenzie Fischer scored five goals and her sister, Aria, added three as the Breakers (29-1) extended their school-record winning streak to 20 games. They also reached their first Division 1 final.

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Click here to see the photos from this game

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“I thought we played great defense,” Damato said. “I would have liked to put more opportunities away but we scored 12 goals, so that’s good.”

Makenzie Fischer and Bella Baldridge also each added three assists.

Becca Corb scored twice for the Griffins (22-9) in the final game for outgoing Coach Dave Carlson, who earlier this season announced that he would resign after the season.

Contact the writer: dalbano@ocregister.com