Latest news with #USAWaterPoloJuniorOlympics
Los Angeles Times
5 days ago
- Sport
- Los Angeles Times
North Irvine prevents Newport Beach 18U ‘three-peat' at USA Water Polo Junior Olympics
IRVINE — Luke Harris called it a really hard decision to leave his brothers on the Newport Harbor High boys' water polo team, competing for a different club team before heading off to college. What made the decision a bit easier was knowing that his good friend and fellow goalkeeper, incoming senior Connor Clougherty, was more than capable of taking the reins in the cage. 'That's my true team, my alma mater,' said Harris, who helped the Sailors claim the CIF Southern Section Open Division title last fall. 'I will always love them to death and be supportive of them. All I want for them is for them to get better and succeed.' Harris left to play with a 'super team,' North Irvine Beast Boys, made up of players from different high schools, this summer. On Tuesday afternoon, he faced many of his Sailors teammates in the boys' 18-and-under gold medal match of the USA Water Polo Junior Olympics. Harris prevented Newport Beach Water Polo Club from winning the division three years in a row, though his own personal streak is intact. The USC-bound goalie made 12 saves as the Beast Boys beat Newport Beach 9-5 for the title at Woollett Aquatics Center. It's the third straight Junior Olympics title for Harris, who helped the Newport Beach 18s win it in 2023 and again last year. 'It felt like it was all or nothing,' Harris said. 'If we didn't win, we were going to feel like a bunch of dogs, honestly. Our whole persona was big, almost a little cocky, everyone kind of hated us. If we didn't win this, it was all for nothing. That was our mindset the whole time.' JSerra graduate Gavin Conant, who, like Harris, will be a Trojan next year, scored a match-high four goals and earned MVP honors. North Irvine, which avenged a loss to Newport Beach in the Junior Olympics quarterfinals on Monday, also featured Corona del Mar graduate Jackson Harlan and Newport Harbor graduate Santino Rossi. Harlan, the 2024-25 Daily Pilot Dream Team Player of the Year, had a field block and a drawn exclusion in the win. 'Coming together and training for three months, going out and getting the job done, there's no better feeling,' Harlan said. 'A surreal feeling.' Sean Anderson, an incoming sophomore transfer from JSerra, had two goals for team-high honors for Newport Beach. Coach Ross Sinclair said that Anderson and his older brother, Tyler, an incoming senior center who starred for the Lions last season, are now both officially enrolled at Newport Harbor. Kai Kaneko, Declan Bartlett and Fletcher Appeldorn added goals for Newport Beach. Clougherty made four saves. Harris said that North Irvine, which led 6-2 at halftime, effectively utilized an 'M-drop' zone defense. 'They just played a little faster, a little more intense, and they had some big moments from big-time players,' Sinclair said. 'I love Luke; I thought he was great. I've seen that before. I'm bummed that we lost, but I'm happy for the way that he goes out his last year. He was fantastic.' Newport Beach missed incoming senior standout Connor Ohl, who has been playing with the U.S. men's senior national team at the World Aquatics World Championships in Singapore. Team USA plays Italy in the seventh-place match on Thursday morning. The Sailors, who Sinclair has guided to the CIF finals in the top division for six straight years, will get back to high school water polo soon enough this fall. 'We have a good group, it's going to be fun,' Sinclair said. 'It's more, 'how do we stay focused, stay hungry and use experiences like this to get better?' It's going to be a fun high school season. There's a lot of good teams out there. We'll enjoy a little break, come back and chip away.' Session Two of the USA Water Polo Junior Olympics, featuring girls' and co-ed divisions, runs Thursday through Sunday in Orange County.
Los Angeles Times
5 days ago
- Sport
- Los Angeles Times
Newport Beach 12-and-under boys nab silver at USA Water Polo Junior Olympics
IRVINE — The Newport Beach Water Polo Club 12-and-under boys certainly became more than familiar with Del Mar during the course of the club season. The teams played six times, and Tuesday's gold medal match of the USA Water Polo Junior Olympics might have been the closest of all. In the end, Del Mar goalkeeper Braxton Harp came up big. Harp earned MVP honors, making two saves in a penalty shootout that Del Mar won 4-1 at Woollett Aquatics Center. The teams were tied 10-10 after regulation, but only Pierce Clymer could score for Newport Beach in the shootout that followed. 'Honestly, they played their hearts out,' Newport Beach 12U coach Konstantinos Koulouris said of his silver-medal winners. 'They played so good. We were locked in from the beginning and very focused. I'm so proud of them for all of the performances that they had the whole weekend. It's hard to beat a team that you've lost to four times, you know.' Del Mar improved to 4-2 against Newport Beach in the club season, including an 11-9 victory in the Junior Olympic quarterfinals on Monday. But the locals from Newport didn't quit there, beating Mission in a play-in game to the semifinals, where they edged Vanguard 7-7 (3-1 in a shootout) on Tuesday morning. Clymer led Newport Beach with four goals in the gold medal match, and Tanner Thomas scored three. Dalton Horne added a pair of goals. Playing at center, Evan Shackelford scored a late goal that gave Newport a 10-9 lead, and he also drew eight exclusions and a penalty shot in the final. 'Obviously, I want to score, that's my priority,' Shackelford said. 'But if I have to, I'll let go of the ball if [the defender] is on my back all of the time. I just want to shoot and score and celebrate with my teammates.' Shackelford and Thomas helped Newport Beach foul out three Del Mar players. Del Mar finished the game without any substitutes available. 'That's our game plan,' Koulouris said. 'We tried to find small entry passes, draw the ejections and play quick. That's what they did … We tried to make some plays in order to put one more kid out, but it didn't work out. They're 12, and they're under pressure. 'It's a great lesson for them for the years after, right? They're going to play this team again multiple times in the future, maybe until they go to college. Del Mar is a great program, they work hard and they have a great coaching staff.' Goalkeeper Finn Breneman made eight saves for Newport Beach, and Hayden Stout had three steals. Other contributors included Stryder Gregory, Griffin Harvey, Oliver Horowitz, Pierson Nichols, Wyatt Robinson, Logan Jameson and Cameron Berman. Del Mar's Attila McCollum scored a late equalizer to send the match to overtime, one of his three goals, and Jason Robinson led the winners with four goals. All of the Newport Beach players will be aging up to the 14-and-under age group next year, and they do hope to meet up with Del Mar again in the future. 'I think we showed up pretty well,' Thomas said. 'There were definitely things we needed to work on toward the end. It kept on going back and forth, which does get a little stressful at times. A few adjustments we need to make, and hopefully we can be back here in a few years with the same team and win it all.' Other local boys' club teams also grabbed medals during Session One of the Junior Olympics. They included Newport Beach Blue 10U (bronze in platinum division), Newport Beach White 10U (bronze in gold division), Vanguard 12U (bronze in platinum division), Newport Beach White 12U (silver in classic bracket), Corona del Mar 14U (silver in gold division), Costa Mesa Aquatics Club 14U (bronze in invitational bracket), Vanguard Silver 16U (bronze in invitational bracket) and Vanguard Silver 18U (bronze in classic bracket). Session Two, which features co-ed and female age divisions, begins Thursday and runs through Sunday.
