IRVINE Corona del Mar’s boys water polo team accomplished something Saturday night that few teams have against Harvard-Westlake of Studio City.
The Sea Kings stuck with the reigning CIF Division 1 champions for the first half.
But Harvard-Westlake fired up its press and counterattack in the final two periods and turned the finals of the S & R Sport Water Polo Invitational into a one-sided affair at the William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center.
Attacker Johnny Hooper scored seven goals and center Ben Hallock added six as Harvard-Westlake sprinted past Corona del Mar, 22-7, to claim the tournament for the second consecutive October.
Corona del Mar (12-3), ranked second in Orange County and fourth in Division 1, got the Wolverines’ attention by trailing, 7-4, at halftime. Yes, Harvard-Westlake (15-0) has been so dominating that a three-goal margin at halftime is revealing.
“They brought a lot of energy to the table,” Hooper said of Corona del Mar. “We don’t see that from a lot of teams. It was cool to see. It helped us with a lot of our experience and we were able to see what other teams do.”
Harvard-Westlake outscored Corona del Mar, 8-0, in the third quarter and added the first three goals of the fourth for an 11-0 run. Sea Kings’ center Brendan Hack snapped the streak with a redirect-goal with 4:46 left in the fourth but the Wolverines’ counterattack had already netted three goals in the third period.
Playing like a potential Division 1 player of the year, Hooper made three of his five steals in the third quarter, scored on two counterattacks and added an assist, field block and drew a penalty.
But despite the lopsided final margin, Corona del Mar stayed upbeat about its tournament run, which included an 11-10 victory Foothill in the semifinals. Hack, a junior, scored five goals for the Sea Kings, who led, 10-8, going into the fourth.
“We’re really moving forward,” said Corona del Mar goalie Nigel Bress, who made seven saves against Harvard-Westlake, including two against Hooper on breakaways, and blocked a penalty against Foothill. “This (final) is a bad loss. We held them off for 2 ½ quarters … If we can do 2 ½ quarters, we can do four quarters down the line.”
Harvard-Westlake led, 6-3, after the first period but the second frame was a 1-1 tie. Center Ben Brooks scored all three of his goals in the first half, including a strike off a 5-meter foul with 22 seconds left in the second to trim Harvard-Westlake’s lead to 7-4.
Brooks, also a junior, briefly gave Corona del Mar a lead, scoring from center after Corona del Mar won the first-period sprint.
But Harvard-Westlake errupted for three goals in the first 1:30 of the thrid period to spark its surge.
“I thought we had a great first half, we’re in the game,” said Corona del Mar coach Barry O’Dea, whose squad reached its first S & R final since 2011. “We got to stay out of foul trouble and we got to calm (me) down on (my) fast-paced game. I let our guys roll and run a little bit. What did we go? Thirty-eight offensive possessions. We probably need to cut that in half and slow this game down.”
Harvard-Westlake finished 6 for 10 on the power-play while Corona del Mar went 2 for 8 and lost starters Jack Trush and Ashton Jajonie to fouls. Neither senior scored but Trush drew three exlcusions while Jajonie added one. Brooks drew two exclusions.
“They get physical and they do a good job posting up,” Harvard-Westlake coach Brian Flacks said of Corona del Mar. “In the third quarter, we really settled down. … We were able to force some turnovers, get out in transition a little bit and make the game a little easier for us.”
Harvard-Westlake plays host to county No. 1 Mater Dei on Tuesday at 5 p.m. in a pairing of Division 1 finalists from last season.
In the third-place game:
Sacred Heart Prep of Atherton 11, Foothill 10: Grant Harvey field blocked a hard shot out of bounds, sparking a counteratack goal by Michael Swart with 2:19 left in the fourth that gave Sacred Heart (12-1) an 11-9 lead and the eventual game-winning goal. Nelson Perla-Ward netted five goals for the Bay area’s No. 1 team while Mike Miller scored five for Foothill. Arash Izadmanesh added 12 saves for the Knights.
