It appears the Eastlake Titans and Mar Vista Mariners will share the Mesa League boys water polo championship banner for the second consecutive year.
The Titans defeated the Mariners, 9-6, Tuesday night at the Southwestern College pool to pull even with the Imperial Beach team atop the league standings.
Both teams possess 5-1 league records with four games remaining in the regular season.
The teams matched each other with 9-1 league records last year.
“It was nice to be at full strength and have everybody because we didn’t have Eli and Will (Eli Stewart and Will Gammon) the first time we played them,” EHS head coach Stuart Sokil said. “We pretty much had control of the game, just a few unlucky rebounds, depending on how they fell off the crossbar.
“We were in defensive mode. We wanted to have good team vision to find the open man, not too many unselfish plays, having that extra pass was the key on offense.”
Mar Vista won the teams’ first encounter, 11-8, on Sept. 13 in Imperial Beach. The Titans were without both Stewart and Gammon, key players on both offense and defense, for that game.
The narrowness of the MVHS pool also restricted play. The Titans appeared more comfortable playing in their much larger home pool.
Stewart scored the only goal of a defensive-minded opening quarter. Gammon had the assist.
Freshman Zane Derrod made it 2-0 early in the second quarter and Ezekiel Craig notched a six-on-five goal to put the hosts up 3-0.
Senior Diego Scheitt scored from the two-meter position to up the Eastlake lead to 4-0 at halftime.
Gio Scheitt made the score 5-0 with the first goal of the second half.
Eastlake’s Riley Anderson goes for a block in Tuesday’s game.
But the Mariners eventually found their sea legs and, from that point, out-scored Eastlake 6-4. However, time ran out on any concerted comeback bid.
Stewart scored his second of three goals in the game to put the Titans ahead 6-2 and Gammon followed with a goal to make the score 7-2 at the end of three quarters.
Mar Vista finished the game on a rush with four of the game’s final six goals.
Sophomore Fletcher Field led the Mariners with three goals while classmate Ethan Hastings scored two goals. Freshman Trevor Rector had one goal.
Hastings leads his team with 78 goals and 96 points.
Riley Anderson scored Eastlake’s other goal.
Eastlake principal Dr. Ricardo Cooke led the procession of jubilant Eastlake players into the pool for a post-game celebratory dip.
Titan senior goalie James Derrod, the San Diego Section career saves leader, came up with 12 saves, including several key stops, during the game to add to his record total. He also neared another record by making six steals. He needs just three steals to set a new section record in that category as well.
He upped his career save count to 1,183 and his career steals count to 307.
Tyler Kandel of The Bishop’s School (1999-2002) holds the section record for career steals at 309.
Derrod was impressed more by the team win than his individual statistics.
“We’ve improved a lot over the course of the season,” the EHS goalie said. “We played our first game in league against them and lost. I think we have improved a lot since then.”
Stewart said he wanted to deliver a personal statement in the pool.
“I’ve thought about playing in this game ever since we lost to them in the first game — it was tough watching and not playing,” he said. “I wanted to do whatever I could to be a game-changer.”
Zane Derrod (pictured at left) has had a memorable freshman season playing alongside his older brother by collecting 19 goals, 19 assists and 46 steals.
Eastlake improved to 10-12 on the season while Mar Vista saw its record dip to 10-14.
The Mariners are competing for a Division I playoff spot while the Titans are hoping to qualify for the Division II playoffs.
Mar Vista is ranked 16th among Division I schools while Eastlake is ranked 12th among Division II schools.
The top 12-ranked teams receive playoff berths in their respective divisions.
League champions automatically qualify for the section playoffs while co-champions may earn an at-large berth.
Mar Vista and Mater Dei Catholic will compete in the CIF playoffs. The top eight teams in the 20-team Division I field will advance to the Open Division playoffs and the remaining 12 teams will compete in the Division I playoffs.
Mater Dei Catholic is currently ranked 18th out of the 20 teams.
League champions host first-round playoff games.
Hilltop is currently ranked seventh among Division III teams, followed by Bonita Vista (ninth), Olympian (12th), Castle Park (13th) and Otay Ranch (14th).
The South Bay League champion gets an automatic bid to the CIF playoffs and a home game unless paired against another league champion.
Otay Ranch hosts Castle Park in a key match-up Wednesday, Oct. 30, at 7:45 p.m. at Southwestern College. It could be for the final playoff berth.
Note: Eastlake’s James Derrod set a new CIF record for career steals (313) by making six in Wednesday’s Mesa League victory at host San Ysidro. The Titans defeated Bonita Vista, 15-4, on Oct. 25. Derrod extended his career record saves total to 1,194 and needs 10 saves to break the SoCal record of 1,203 saves by ML King’s Joseph Moorman (2008-12). Derrod now has 105 steals on the season and 319 in his career, which is the new section record.
Eastlake has two games left in regular season play: Wednesday, Oct. 30, against Hilltop and Friday, Nov. 1, against Mater Dei Catholic.
Bonita Vista 7, Hilltop 6
In a Mesa League game played Wednesday night at Southwestern College, host Bonita Vista edged Hilltop as senior Archie Orozco scored the game-winner with 2:23 to play to break a 6-6 deadlock on the scoreboard.
The game never ventured from more than a two-goal separation between the teams. Sami Metta gave Bonita Vista (3-5, 10-12) a 6-4 lead by scoring the opening goal of the third quarter but that evaporated on goals by Hilltop’s Raul Rico and Aiden Garces.
Orozco keyed the Barons with three goals while teammate Felix Ikeda scored two goals. Metta, who led the team with five shots, added one goal and three steals while Wesley Haslett scored one goal.
Rico led Hilltop (2-5, 10-12) with three goals while Dominick Carlucci, Evan Rodriguez and Garces each scored one goal.
Angelo Roman stood tall in the BV cage with 17 saves and one steal.
Photo Gallery by Phillip Brents
Eastlake 9, Mar Vista 6
Metro Conference roundup:
Eagles soaring toward South Bay League title
The Olympian Eagles appear in the driver’s seat to claim this year’s South Bay League boys water polo title after edging Castle Park, 13-11, in a game played Wednesday evening at Southwestern College.
The Eagles and Trojans paired up in one of the most well-played and entertaining games of the season that saw Castle Park take an 8-4 lead in the early moments of the third quarter only to see Olympian rally by scoring four of the game’s final five goals to erase a 10-9 deficit.
The Eagles (5-1 in league, 6-13 overall) scored the last three goals, including two by junior Josh Rivera, to snap an 11-11 tie. Freshman Caeleb Collins iced the game with a goal with 5.5 seconds to play for Olympian.
“I’m proud that we came back but I was expecting more,” OHS coach Craig Collins said. “We want to keep learning every day and getting better.”
Sophomore Ryland Humphrey led Castle Park (2-3 in league, 6-7 overall) with five goals while teammate Sebastian Silva scored four.
The South Bay League has proven particularly competitive this season. At one point early on, three teams were tied with 2-1 league records: Otay Ranch, Castle Park and Olympian.
But Castle Park defeated Otay Ranch, 16-14, on Oct. 11 and Olympian topped Otay Ranch, 12-7, in a second-round rematch on Oct. 18.
Chula Vista upset Castle Park, 7-6, on Oct. 18. Olympian defeated Castle Park, 12-7, in a first-round match-up on Oct. 4 while Otay Ranch had opened league play with an 11-10 overtime win over Olympian on Oct. 2.
“This was kind of do or die for us (in Wednesday’s game) to stay in it,” CPHS coach Mark Esquivel said. “We had the lead but kind of fizzled out at the end. We have three games left and want to have a winning record in league and hopefully still be in the playoffs.”
Star watch: Ryland Humphrey
Castle Park High School, sophomore
Humphrey, who competes during the offseason for the Southern Water Polo Club, has already established himself as one of the top players in the league as a sophomore. He was good as a freshman due to his club experience but has expanded his knowledge and intricacies of the game this season.
He’s pure joy to watch in the water.
While he can score from pretty much anywhere inside half tank, he can just as quickly get back on defense. His motions seem effortless. His concentration is etched on his brow. He is technically precise in what he does.
Yet he prefers to talk about his team, not necessarily himself.
“Most on our team are sophomores, so we’re hoping to get better,” he said. “Water polo is not a one person game. We’ve got to develop as a team.”
There certainly appears to be a lot of motivation on this year’s Castle Park team, which is bidding to qualify for the San Diego Section playoffs with a late season surge.
Humphrey, whose father played water polo at Valhalla High School, is a three-sport athlete at CPHS. He’s played varsity water polo and baseball and junior varsity basketball.
Baseball might be his prime sport, and that might be where he gets his arm strength in the pool.
He’s averaging about five goals per game but is capable of scoring in double digits, and is chasing the school record for goals scored in one season.
It’s possible he could add his name to the section record book in the future.
Mar Vista’s Justin Patacsil holds the listed Metro Conference record for most career goals at 320 (2008-11), followed by Hilltop’s Dan Street at 316 (1990-93), Ricky Medina at 290 (1988-91) and Tom Martinez at 286 (1978-80).
Eastlake’s Felix Dion scored 177 goals during the 2009 season while Street notched 160 goals in 1993.
As for most goals scored in one game, the section record book lists Eastlake’s Eric Franks at 28 in a game against Southwest in 1998. Sweetwater’s Mike Maniss scored 21 goals in a game in 1979.
Other notable single-game efforts include those by Eastlake’s Renz Benton (20 in 1998), Montgomery’s Guillermo Castillo (18 in 1988) and Street (15 in 1993).
One conspicuous name not listed in the section record book belongs to Hilltop alumnus Nick Howard, who scored 205 goals and racked up 290 points during the 2012 season, to lead the state.
The 205 goals would place Howard, who went on to earn All-American honors at Southwestern College, in third place for single-season goals.
Mesa League Standings
(Through Oct. 23)
Eastlake 6-1, 11-12
Mar Vista 6-1, 11-14
Mater Dei Catholic 4-3, 13-11
Bonita Vista 3-4, 10-13
Hilltop 2-5, 11-11
San Ysidro 0-7, 5-12
Mesa League Scoreboard
Sept. 13: Mar Vista 11, Eastlake 8
Sept. 18: Hilltop 13, Bonita Vista 11
Sept. 20: Mar Vista 12, Mater Dei Catholic 8
Oct. 2: Mater Dei Catholic 8, Hilltop 6
Oct. 2: Bonita Vista 18, San Ysidro 6
Oct. 4: Eastlake 21, San Ysidro 1
Oct. 9: Mar Vista 12, Hilltop 4
Oct. 9: Mater Dei Catholic 15, San Ysidro 4
Oct. 9: Eastlake 16, Bonita Vista 5
Oct. 11: Mar Vista 21, San Ysidro 3
Oct. 11: Eastlake 16, Hilltop 3
Oct. 14: Mater Dei Catholic 11, Bonita Vista 9
Oct. 15: Bonita Vista 12, San Ysidro 7
Oct. 16: Eastlake 12, Mater Dei Catholic 6
Oct. 16: Mar Vista 17, Bonita Vista 14
Oct. 16: Hilltop 19, San Ysidro 3
Oct. 21: Mater Dei Catholic 11, Hilltop 6
Oct. 22: Eastlake 9, Mar Vista 6
Oct. 23: Eastlake 22, San Ysidro 6
Oct. 23: Mar Vista 15, Mater Dei Catholic 10
Oct. 23: Bonita Vista 7, Hilltop 6
South Bay League Standings
(Through Oct. 23)
Olympian 5-1, 6-15
Otay Ranch 3-2, 4-15
Castle Park 2-3, 6-7
Chula Vista 2-3, 5-11
Southwest 0-3, 2-7
South Bay League Scoreboard
Oct. 2: Castle Park 10, Chula Vista 8
Oct. 2: Otay Ranch 11, Olympian 10 (OT)
Oct. 4: Olympian 12, Castle Park 7
Oct. 7: Otay Ranch 21, Southwest 4
Oct. 9: Olympian 12, Chula Vista 8
Oct. 11: Castle Park 16, Otay Ranch 14
Oct. 11: Chula Vista 8, Southwest 3
Oct. 16: Olympian 18, Southwest 8
Oct. 16: Otay Ranch 11, Chula Vista 3
Oct. 18: Chula Vista 7, Castle Park 6
Oct. 18: Olympian 12, Otay Ranch 7
Oct. 23: Olympian 13, Castle Park 11
San Diego Open Tournament
Oct. 17-19
Eastlake 9, Fallbrook 5
Granite Hills 12, Eastlake 7
Del Norte 12, Eastlake 10
Eastlake 12, Alta Loma 10
Poway 19, Eastlake 10
Steele Canyon 15, Mar Vista 5
Del Norte 9, Mar Vista 6
Schurr 12, Mar Vista 4
La Costa Canyon 11, Mar Vista 4
Patrick Henry 9, Mar Vista 8
Mission Bay 11, Hilltop 8
Mt. Carmel 9, Hilltop 5
Hilltop 12, Serra 10
Hilltop 8, Oceanside 7
Hilltop 12, High Tech High San Diego 9
Bonita Vista 10, Oceanside 8
West Hills 12, Bonita Vista 5
Torrey Pines 13, Bonita Vista 8
El Capitan 13, Bonita Vista 5
