Skip to content
Dan Albano. Sports HS Reporter.

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

It’s one of the burning questions in boys water polo.

Who should be ranked higher in Orange County, and in Division 1: Orange Lutheran or Huntington Beach.

Related: Albano’s Twitter poll

Both teams made their cases last week. The Oilers captured the North-South Challenge, defeating Mater Dei by five goals in the finals despite playing without injured Ethan Wojciechowski.

Orange Lutheran beat Mater Dei in overtime by two in a Trinity League clash and then played Harvard-Westlake of Studio City to a one-goal loss in its next match.

On Monday, the Lancers moved to No. 1 in Orange County while the Oilers stayed No. 2, mostly based on the fact that they have split two games with Mater Dei. The Lancers are 1-0 against Mater Dei.

Orange Lutheran and Huntington Beach also are competing for the No. 2 spot behind undefeated Harvard-Westlake in Division 1. But when the CIF-SS coaches polls surfaced Monday, Division 1 featured the tag “did not report.”

Here’s what Harvard coach Brian Flacks said Saturday night about which team should be No. 2 in Division 1:

“I think OLu,” Flacks said. “Obviously, beating Mater Dei at Mater Dei (is impressive). The tough thing with HB is that I haven’t seen them and we haven’t played them since the transfers have been back.

“Adding two guys (Ryan Hurst, Garrett Zaan) of that caliber, they are obviously a new team. I don’t know, it’s close. That will be an unbelievable game. … Can it be tied?”

The good news for water polo fans: OLu and HB play on Oct. 29, but both squads will need to continue their winning ways to keep the showdown set. The Oilers play at Newport Harbor on Wednesday night in a key Sunset League match.

Please send boys water polo news or comments to Dan Albano at dalbano@scng.com or @ocvarsityguy on Twitter