CIF girls water polo playoffs
Division 2 breakdown
1st round starts: Feb. 16
Top 4 seeds: 1. Lakeside of Lake Elsinore, 2. Paso Robles, 3. Kennedy, 4. Garden Grove
Number of teams: 17 entries (16-team bracket)
League champions: Just five. They are: Lakeside, Alta Loma, Garden Grove, Kennedy, Webb.
Where are last year’s finalists? Champion Santa Monica soared into Division 2. Runner-up Westridge moved to Division 3 and lost to Warren, 14-9, in the first round.
O.C. best hope: Kennedy. The Empire League champions are seeded third overall and seem stabilized under interim coach Shawn McBride. The veteran replaced the dismissed Eric Pierce in the wake of sexual assault case against a former assistant swim and water polo coach at Kennedy. Don’t forget about Costa Mesa. The Mustangs lost to Kennedy, 8-7, early in the season.
Fun facts: Garden Grove is a two-time CIF runner-up (Division 6, 7). Kennedy, Costa Mesa and Savanna have never reached the finals.
Final poll: 1. Lakeside, 2. Paso Robles, 3, Kennedy, 4, Garden Grove, 5. Downey, 6,. Costa Mesa, 7. Cerritos, 8. Alta Loma. 9. Webb, 10. Arcadia
