CIF girls water polo playoffs
Division 2 breakdown
1st round starts: Feb. 16
Top 4 seeds: 1. Agoura, 2. Riverside Poly, 3. ML King; 4. Schurr
Number of teams: 18 entries (16 team bracket)
League champions: 11. They are: Agoura, Troy, La Canada, Schurr, Bonita, ML King, Crescenta Valley, Santa Monica, Arroyo Grande, Riverside Poly, Palm Desert. It’s another loaded division.
Where are last year’s finalists? Champion Murrieta Valley made a historical jump to Division 1, becoming the first Inland Empire program to reach the top division. Runner-up El Toro also moved to Division 1. Both squads lost in the first round Wednesday but the Nighthawks showed well in a 9-7 loss against defending champion Orange Lutheran.
O.C. best hope: Troy. The Freeway League champion were promoted from Division 3 and face a challenging draw. Even if the Warriors beat Mira Costa in the first round today, top-seed Agoura likely looms in the quarterfinals.
Fun facts: Dana Hills has to be happy not to be playing Schurr in the first round. The Dolphins are 0-2 this season against No. 4 seed Schurr (6-3, 13-8). They also dropped a game against Schurr last season and in the 2015 playoffs, 13-12. Dana Hills still faces a tough foe today in La Canada, which beat El Toro early in the season and later lost, 12-7.
Final poll: 1. Agoura, 2. Riverside Poly, 3. ML King, 4. Schurr, 5, La Canada, 6. Santa Monica, 7. Arroyo Grande, 8. Mira Costa, 9. Temple City, 10. Troy
