The stretch drive for the upcoming San Diego Section girls water polo playoffs has started in earnest, and both the Hilltop Lancers and Mar Vista Mariners have to be feeling pretty good about where they stand after completing last Saturday’s East County Invitational.
Hilltop defeated Clairemont, 13-12, in overtime to win the championship while Mar Vista captured third place with a 13-2 victory against tournament host El Capitan.
For good measure, Bonita Vista out-dueled West Hills, 9-7, in the fifth place game.
Entering the week, Hilltop (14-3) found itself at the top of the Division III power rankings while Mar Vista (16-4-1) was second to Clairemont (15-5) in Division II.
Hilltop head coach Ernie Medina said there have only been two teams from the Metro Conference that have won the East County Invitational title: Otay Ranch in 2008 and Hilltop this year.
“The girls were dealing with a few injuries and three varsity players who were away,” Medina explained. “We had to pull up some junior varsity players to provide subs. Our girls had a great attitude and believed they could be competitive. The girls stayed focused and played hard each game.
“At one point, we were down five goals to Clairemont and played back into the game. Hilltop was even down two goals in overtime and came back to win.”
The section playoffs will be conducted in four divisions: Open, Division I, Division II and Division III.
Other Metro Conference teams occupying favorable positions in the section power rankings include Olympian (fifth in Division III), Mater Dei Catholic (sixth in Division III), Southwest (seventh in Division III), Bonita Vista (eighth in Division II) and Eastlake (11th in Division II).
The top 12-seeded teams advance to the division playoffs in both Division II and Division III.
“Our plan is to play hard and continue into the CIF playoffs,” Medina noted.
Final verdict
Hilltop’s Sophia Espinoza sent the championship game into overtime with a backhand shot from the left post in the dying seconds of regulation play. Frances Carreon then scored with 24 seconds left in the overtime period to win it for the Lady Lancers.
Medina noted that Carreon also stole the ball from Clairemont with 13 seconds left to allow Hilltop to run out the clock.
The championship game win over the Lady Chieftains served to avenge an 8-6 overtime loss on the opening day of the tournament to Clairemont. Hilltop then proceeded to win its next three games to advance to a championship game rematch with the Lady Chieftains.
During the course of the tournament, the Lady Lancers defeated West Hills (ranked fourth in Division II), Mar Vista (ranked second in Division II) and Clairemont (ranked first in Division II).
Who’s in first?
The race for league championship titles is also entering its final stages.
Mar Vista entered the week 6-0 in Mesa League play, followed by Hilltop (4-2 in league), Bonita Vista (3-2 in league), Eastlake (3-3 in league), Mater Dei Catholic (1-4 in league) and Otay Ranch (0-6 in league).
Olympian entered the week 5-0 in South Bay League play, followed by Southwest (3-2 in league), Chula Vista (2-4 in league), San Ysidro (1-1 in league), Montgomery (1-2 in league) and Castle Park (0-5 in league).
Youth polo
The South Coast Water Polo Club captured second place at the RSD Winter 17-and-under Invitational on Jan. 23. South Coast WPC defeated Nitehawk Del Norte (9-2) and Cougar (12-1) before bowing to Norse (10-7).
South Coast WPC will have teams competing in the Grommet 12-and-under league Friday at 6:30 p.m. at Mar Vista High School and the Iron Man League at 7:30 p.m., also at MVHS.
HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS WATER POLO SCOREBOARD
East County Invitational
Girls Water Polo Tournament
Saturday, Jan. 23
West Hills High School
Monte Vista 12, El Cajon Valley 1
Mission Bay 12, Mater Dei Catholic 8
Mission Bay 20, El Cajon Valley 4
Mater Dei Catholic 11, Monte Vista 3
El Capitan High School
West Hills 13, Ramona 7
Bonita Vista 13, Point Loma 9
Hilltop 11, Mar Vista 5
Clairemont 5, El Capitan 2
Ramona 13, Point Loma 4
Medal Games
Fifth place
Bonita Vista 9, West Hills 7
Third place
Mar Vista 13, El Capitan 2
Championship
Hilltop 13, Clairemont 12 (OT)
Mesa League Standings
(Through Jan. 25)
Mar Vista 6-0, 17-4-1
Hilltop 4-2, 14-3
Eastlake 3-3, 8-10
Bonita Vista 3-2, 8-5
Mater Dei Catholic 1-4, 7-9
Otay Ranch 0-6, 2-11
South Bay League Standings
(Through Jan. 25)
Olympian 5-0, 10-6
Southwest 3-2, 7-4
Chula Vista 2-4, 3-5
San Ysidro 1-1, 2-9
Montgomery 1-2, 1-5
Castle Park 0-5, 0-6
