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  • Laguna Beach's girls water polo team defeated Corona del Mar,...

    Laguna Beach's girls water polo team defeated Corona del Mar, 6-4, in the finals of the California State High School Championships on Sunday.

  • Mater Dei's Matthew Payne releases a lob shot -- after...

    Mater Dei's Matthew Payne releases a lob shot -- after a hard fake -- with 1 second left on the shot clock and scores to trim Harvard-Westlake's lead to two goals early in the fourth quarter of the California State High School Championships at Foothill on Sunday. Harvard defended its state title with a 10-9 victory.

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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.

Mater Dei’s boys water polo team didn’t get the outcome it desired Sunday but the Monarchs said they still proved an important point:

They can play with reigning CIF Division 1 champion Harvard-Westlake of Studio City despite heavy losses from graduation.

Top-seeded Harvard-Westlake never trailed but couldn’t completely shake the No. 2 Monarchs en route to a 10-9 victory in the final of the 48-team California State High School Championships at Foothill.

In the 32-team girls tournament, defending Division 1 champion Laguna Beach defeated host Corona del Mar, 6-4, in the final despite a pair of goals by the Sea Kings’ Eliza Britt and Grace Morgan. Mia Salvini scored twice for Laguna Beach. Both teams weren’t full-strength because of the U.S. Open.

Mater Dei’s Nick Lavayen scored on a counterattack with 15 seconds left in the fourth to cap the scoring and spoil a bid by Harvard-Westlake to run out the clock for a two-goal win.

Harvard-Westlake, which dethroned Mater Dei in the Division 1 final last season, 9-6, led by three goals three different times but the Monarchs came back to tie the score once and draw within one the final time.

“We’re looking to surprise them (this season),” said Mater Dei attacker Matthew Payne, who scored twice in the second half to share the team scoring lead with lefty Luke Wyatt.

“They’re supposed to go undefeated. We’re not going to let that happen. They stunned us last season. We’re about to stun them. This just feeds our confidence.”

Mater Dei’s 2014 graduates included first-team All-County players McQuin Baron (USC), James Walters (USC) and Kent Inoue (UCLA). Senior-to-be Jonathan Van De Velde proved to be a worthy replacement in goal for Baron by making eight saves, including one on a penalty shot by Johnny Hooper in the third.

“The past three years, I’ve been learning from McQuin, building up and waiting for this moment,” said Van De Velde, a senior-to-be. “We have a long way to go but I think we can get there. We proved today we can play well as a team.”

Mater Dei used much of its roster on offense. Seven different players scored. Center Sean Duncan, Nick Silvers, Spencer Carroll and Connor Talleur each added a goal apiece.

“We don’t have that one player … who is always going to save us,” Payne said. “We’re all focusing on own individual play that compliments the team.”

Ben Hallock was a force at center for Harvard-Westlake, scoring a game-high four goals, including a spectacular redirect in the third. Goalie Anthony Ridgley added 14 saves.

In the girls final, Corona del Mar led, 4-3, in the fourth period but Salvini scored consecutive goals to put the Breakers up for good. Ally Jochim then capped the scoring for Laguna Beach, who played without Makenzie and Aria Fischer because of the U.S. Open.

“It was a great win for our program regardless of who we were missing,” Laguna Beach assistant coach Trevor Lyle said in a text message. “The girls played good polo all weekend and showed how deep of a team we truly have.”

Corona del Mar played without Maddie Musselman, who also was at the U.S. Open. The Sea Queens edged Foothill in the semifinals, 9-8, in a double shootout. The score was tied, 5-5, after regulation and, 8-8, after the first round of shootouts. Morgan netted the winner in sudden-death shootout.

In the boys third-place game:

Foothill 15, Laguna Beach 14: Junior-to-be Chas Hornecker scored five goals — including an impressive backhander on a drive — to lead the host Knights. Jakob Colladay netted three goals, including one off his steal at midpool, for the Breakers.

Contact the writer: dalbano@ocregister.com