The San Diego Section girls water polo divisional championships grabbed the spotlight with four division finals and a state play-in game Feb. 21 at La Jolla high School.
Three of the four top-seeded teams made a statement.
Top-seeded Bishop’s emerged as this year’s elite Open Division champion with a 13-7 victory over second-seeded Valhalla while top-seeded Helix made a splash by downing third-seeded Mission Bay, 10-3, to win the Division I banner.
Top-seeded Coronado sank third-seeded Francis Parker, 11-8, to capture the Division II championship while third-seeded Scripps Ranch upset top-seeded Classical Academy, 6-4, to claim the Division III title.
The Division II CIF girls water polo championship is a first for Helix (18-13 overall).
“We played in an Open Division championship three years ago and lost to Bishop’s,” Helix coach and alumna Lenelle Wylie said. “We have been a competitive team in San Diego for the past decade and were in the Open Division the past four years. We struggled a bit at the beginning of this season and, once we found our footing, we really started to play well!
“Winning a championship is hard and the difference between teams ranked No. 4 through No. 14 is very small, so being able to play well consistently at the end of the season and win out a tournament is a really big deal!
“As a player on Helix’s very first women’s water polo team in 1995, I am so happy to see the growth in the sport not only at my high school and in my city, but on the national stage as well. Women’s water polo has grown so much in the past 30 years and I am lucky to have been a part of this growth. From a time when all girls could do was play with the boys to see San Diego high school and club water polo representing well nationally in Junior Olympics is very exciting!
“We have a lot of seniors this year on our team and our collective maturity has played a big part in our success,” Wylie said. “We owe a lot of our success, however, to Junior standout, Lillian Wylie. She has scored more than 120 goals this season and more than 70 exclusions drawn; her physical presence impacts how teams play against us and she has been central to our success.
“We have a strong defensive presence in our goalie Lauren Strocco, who has come up with big games in the playoffs, averaging 13 saves per game in the postseason for a season total of 176 blocks.
“Two other standout players are Mia Hamilton, our team’s best facilitator with more than 50 assists on the season and overall utility player Avery Mann, whose defensive abilities and accurate shooting came in clutch for big wins in the playoffs.
Helix advanced to the first round of the Southern California regional playoffs as the No. 6 seed in the Division II bracket against third-seeded El Camino on Feb. 24.
El Camino finished fourth in the Open Division. The Lady Highlanders and Lady Wildcats split during the regular season with each team winning once. Helix won the rubber match, 12-10, on Feb. 26 to advance to the regional semifinals against No. 2 La Serna on Feb. 26.
Lillian Wylie led Helix with six goals in the win over El Camino while Mann tacked on three goals.
The Lady Scotties ended an otherwise stellar season with a 10-8 loss to La Serna to fall one game shy of playing or a regional championship.
Top-seeded La Jolla defeated La Serna, 13-9, to win this year’s regional title on Feb. 28.
Valhalla defeated No. 7 Carlsbad, 11-6, in the Open quarterfinals and edged No. 3 La Jolla, 15-14, in the semifinals.
