 | | | Photos Gint Federas | | | | | | A pair of goals in the second overtime lifted the Miramonte (20-6) water polo team to a 12-10 victory over Campolindo (22-6) in the North Coast Section finals last Saturday night at the Steve Heaston Aquatic Center at Acalanes High School. The victory capped a remarkable year for the Mats in their 50th anniversary season (see story, page A1).
The tense battle between two of Northern California's elite water polo teams did little more than prove that the Lamorinda area is host to some of the top programs in California, if not the nation.
In addition to these two rivals, Acalanes (16-10) also made it to the NCS playoffs, barely losing to San Ramon High 13-12 in the quarterfinals.
Tyler Abramson led Miramonte in scoring with four goals, including two in the final quarter of regulation to help the Mats pull even at 9-9.
In the first overtime, Jackson Painter barely beat the 30-second buzzer for Miramonte, his second goal of the evening, but Michael Wheeler, who led Campolindo with three scores, answered back.
Will Clark notched his second goal to open up the second overtime, giving Miramonte the lead for the first time in the match, and Stephen Schmidt followed with the clincher midway through the period.
Winning coach James Lathrop credited the longstanding rivalry between the two schools for producing a great, competitive match. "The game brought out the best in both groups," he said. In particular, Lathrop praised Ben Miller in the cage for Campolindo with doing a super job.
Midway through the season, Miramonte was ranked 12th in the NCS. By tournament time they entered as the No. 1 seed.
"The season came together for us when the team realized that each player could contribute the little things, rather than worrying about getting credit," said Lathrop.
Campolindo coach Miles Price was proud of his team and how much work they put into the season. "Beck Jurasius was very good to us in the final games, as were brothers Tommy and Wayne Hawkins."
Asked why the Lamorinda teams have been so consistently good, Price responded, "Across the board, including Acalanes and Las Lomas, the administration supports our programs and helps make us what we are. They do a great job of producing super student-athletes."
Unlike many other sports in California, water polo does not advance beyond the NCS. Miramonte finished first, Campolindo second and Acalanes was arguably the fifth best team in the NCS. Next year, there's talk of adding regional playoffs to the schedule.
Earlier in the day, the Miramonte girls water polo team (22-6) lost an 8-7 thriller to San Ramon Valley (25-2) to finish second in the NCS.
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA