It hasn’t been easy for the Hilltop High School boys water polo team during the 2021 fall season after head coach Ernie Medina had to temporarily depart the team on extended medical leave.
It’s been seven weeks and the Lancers’ game schedule has picked up in major fashion over the past couple weeks. The team had a chance to reward Medina’s diligence by capturing the championship title of last Saturday’s Spartan Invitational at the Parkway pool.
Medina made an appearance on deck for the championship game — an 18-4 win over the Castle Park Trojans.
“The team’s goal this year is to make the Division II playoffs and it looks like that might happen, though there’s going to be some shifting in the power rankings,” Medina said. “Hats off to John Salts and Sergio Carreon for stepping in. They’ve been very professional in running the team.”
Salts and Carreon have been coaching the team in Medina’s absence and both have done a very good job.
Hilltop (5-2 in league, 13-4 overall) won all three of its games at last Saturday’s eight-team single-day tournament. The Lancers opened with a 16-1 quarterfinal-round win over Southwest, then defeated Mesa League rival Otay Ranch, 16-5, in the semifinals.
The championship game was tied 1-1 in the early stages before the Lancers jumped ahead 3-1 en route to ending the opening quarter with a 5-2 lead.
Senior Raul Rico led all players in the pool with 10 goals while junior Aidan Garces had three goals, Nikos Kapetanios had two goals and Petros Kapetanios, Eli Reyes and Jason Esquivel all scored single goals.
Senior Ryland Humphrey scored all four of Castle Park’s goals.
Rico paced Hilltop with seven goals in the semifinal win while Garces had four goals.
Nikos Kapetanios had five goals in the quarterfinal win while Garces had four goals.
Salts noted significant contributions in the three games from Rico, Garces and junior goalie Tim Roa.
“Everyone on the team contributed but those three stood out,” Salts said.
The Lancers faced off the final two weeks of regular season play with a 22-9 Mesa League win over Mater Dei Catholic (1-5, 3-14) on Monday.
The top three teams in the tournament standings received medals.
Castle Park opened the day with a 17-6 win over Escondido, then recorded a hotly contested 14-13 win over Canyon Hills in the semifinals.
By the end of the day, the Trojans had earned respect from the teams present and made a big jump up to No. 3 in the Division III power rankings.
“We have 10 seniors and it’s been a good run with these guys,” said Trojan head coach Mark Esquivel, whose team recorded an 18-17 win over Canyon Hills in the consolation finals of the recent East County Invitational.
Humphrey led Castle Park in the tournament with 17 goals. He has established himself as one of the most prolific boys water polo players in school history with 105 goals, 32 steals and 24 assists so far this season.
“It was a tough tournament with us playing three games in one day,” Humphrey said. “Hilltop’s a great team. We want to continue to battle with some good teams to prepare us for CIF.”
Castle Park upped its record to 20-2 following Monday’s 5-0 South Bay League win over Chula Vista.
Otay Ranch finished in fourth place in the field following a nail-biting 15-14 setback to the Canyon Hills Rattlers in the third-place game. The game went down to the final shot with the teams tied 12-12 heading into the final frantic minutes.
The Mustangs defeated San Ysidro, 15-2, in the quarterfinals to meet the Lancers in the semifinals.
“It was good competition in the tournament,” Otay Ranch coach Carlos Stinson said. “As far as our team, I was impressed how we never gave up.”
Top performers for the Mustangs included Rodney Jiao with 13 goals in the tournament and Jaden Fernandez with seven goals.
Bonita Vista earned fifth place following its 18-4 win over San Ysidro.
The Barons faced off the tourney with a forfeit loss to Canyon Hills because of a lack of a full lineup but later came back to best Escondido, 13-3, in a consolation bracket game once more team members were present.
Kristian Gutierrez paced Bonita Vista with 18 goals in the tourney while Caleb Hutchins had 15 goals.
“We played some good games today,” BVHS coach Betty Alexander said.
Bonita Vista — ninth in the Division III power rankings — evened its season record at 9-9 following Monday’s 8-6 non-league win over Olympian.
Southwest and Escondido both played two games in the tournament.
San Ysidro defeated Southwest, 12-9, behind nine goals from Ian Osuna to advance to the fifth place game.
Southwest (3-3 in league, 3-7 overall) dropped to 16th in the Division III power rankings while San Ysidro (1-5 in league, 2-9 overall) is 18th.
EAST COUNTY INVITATIONAL
| A | B | |||||||||
| 1 | LCC | W L 2 | 1 | Hiltop | WL 2 | |||||
| 2 | Olympian | L L 4 | 2 | Valley Center | LL4 | |||||
| 3 | LJCD | L W 3 | 3 | Canyon Hills | LW 3 | |||||
| 4 | El Cap | W W 1 | 4 | Oceanside | WW 1 | |||||
| C | D | |||||||||
| 1 | Ramona | W L 2 | 1 | Granite Hills | WW 1 | |||||
| 2 | Mater Dei | L L 4 | 2 | Castle Park | LW 3 | |||||
| 3 | Bonita Vista | L W 3 | 3 | Monte Vista | L L 4 | |||||
| 4 | West Hills | W W 1 | 4 | SFC | WL 2 | |||||
| Monday Oct 4 | ||||||||||
| at El Capitan | at West Hills | |||||||||
| 4:15 | (1) | LCC 20 | vs. | Oly 2 | (17) | Ramona 15 | vs. | Mday 3 | ||
| 5:05 | (2) | LJCD 6 | vs. | El Cap 11 | (18) | BV 3 | vs. | WH 15 | ||
| at Mt Miguel | at Monte Vista | |||||||||
| 4:15 | (0) | (19) | GH17 | vs. | Cpark 5 | |||||
| 5:05 | (3) | Hilltop 8 | vs. | VC 5 | (20) | MV 11 | vs. | SFC 13 | ||
| 5:55 | (4) | C hill | vs. | Oside | ||||||
| FRIDAY Oct 8 | ||||||||||
| at El Capitan | at West Hills | |||||||||
| 4:15 | (5) | Oly 11 | vs. | (21) | M Day 5 | vs. | BV 13 | |||
| 5:05 | (6) | LCC 9 | vs. | El Cap 10 | (22) | C Park 18 | vs. | MV 6 | ||
| 5:55 | (7) | Valley Crt 10 | vs. | Canyon 11 | (23) | Ramona 3 | vs. | WH 5 | ||
| 6:45 | (8) | Hilltop 8 | vs. | Oside 13 | (24) | GH 15 | vs. | SFC 6 | ||
| 3:30 | (4) | Canyon Hills | vs | Oceanside | Win | |||||
| SATURDAY Oct 9 | ||||||||||
| El Capitan | West Hills | |||||||||
| 8:30 | (25) | Olympian 6 | vs. | VC 15 | (9) | LCC 11 | vs. | Hilltop 10 | ||
| 9:20 | (26) | M Day 11 | vs. | MV 12 | (10) | Ramona 8 | vs. | SFC 5 | ||
| 10:10 | (27) | LJCD 9 | vs. | C Hill 12 | (11) | El Cap 6 | vs. | Oside 9 | ||
| 11:00 | (28) | BV 6 | vs. | Castle P 16 | (12) | WH 5 | vs. | GH 15 | ||
| 11:50 | (33) | Olympian 9 | vs. | M Day 11 | (13) | Hilltop 12 | vs. | SFC 11 | ||
| 12:40 | (34) | VC 9 | vs. | MV 3 | 5th Place >> | (14) | LCC 9 | vs. | Ramona 8 | |
| 1:30 | (35) | LJCD 10 | vs. | BV 8 | 3rd Place >> | (15) | El Cap 12 | vs. | WH 9 | |
| 2:20 | (36) | C Hills 17 | vs. | CastleP 18 | Championship >> | (16) | Oside 5 | vs. | GH 10 | |
| Teams who forfeit games will be charged $100.00 per forfeited game. | ||||||||||
| 6 Minute- 1 full time out on Monday & Fri, on Saturday 6 min qtrs. 1 full, 1 30-sec time out | ||||||||||
| Team listed first is home team. Ot IS Golder Goal | 8 Goals up in the 4th – running clock) | |||||||||
| Golden Goal for all ties games. | ||||||||||
