SD Prep Sports

SD Prep Sports: Water Polo

Barons, Titans stay on collision course

Bonita Vista, Eastlake to square off for Metro title

By Phillip Brents

Posted Oct. 29, 2002

Halloween may be reserved for all the things that go bump in the night. For Metro Conference boys water polo teams, it will also be the night that the 2002 league champion is officially crowned.

Will the Bonita Vista Barons extend their unprecedented consecutive league winning streak to 16 championships or will the Eastlake Titans add to the tri-championship banner they shared with both the Barons and Montgomery in 2000 with outright possession of the 2002 pennant?

Both eastside Chula Vista high school teams sport undefeated 5-0 league records. Game time is 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 31, at the Southwestern College pool.

Eastlake was the first team to reach 5-0 in Metro play following a 21-7 victory against Chula Vista in an afternoon game at the Parkway pool. Bonita Vista joined the Titans in the undefeated ranks following its 23-8 win against Montgomery later that evening at Southwestern College.

Nik Clair-Williams tied a personal record for most goals in one game with 12 as the Titans (9-4) built a 10-3 halftime lead against the Spartans (1-7). A run of eight consecutive goals gave Eastlake a 16-3 lead midway through the third period.

Alex Howell had three goals while teammates Steve Sanchez and James Hiney both contributed two goals to the Titan offensive effort. Junior goalie Dain Laverty had 15 saves and two steals. Clair-Williams led Eastlake with four steals, followed by Hiney and Peter Silva each with three steals. As a team, the Titans had 16 steals.

Gregorio Flores paced Chula Vista with five goals.

The game served as a homecoming for current Eastlake coach Lonny Wood, who played two years for the Spartans while a student at CVHS. "It brought back memories," Wood said. "It was an exciting time. We had a lot of enthusiasm. We had a lot of fun trying to better our records. We really enjoyed playing."

Wood hopes to rekindle the enthusiasm that permeated the fledgling Metro Conference more than a decade ago with his current coaching assignment at Eastlake.

Bonita Vista, playing without starter Mike Pilgrim, upped its seasonal record to 10-3 by taking early leads of 5-1 (first quarter) and 11-3 (halftime) against an ironman Aztec squad playing without substitutes. Sophomore Andrew Hibbard led the Barons with seven goals to take over the team scoring lead from Pilgrim while Alan Gonzales (four goals), Nathan Golder (three goals), Dennis Schulz (three goals), Doug Schulz (two goals) and Brian Kowalski (two goals) all contributed multiple goals in the victory.

Montgomery (2-4) received four goals from junior Manlio Elazab and three goals from sophomore Roberto Balestreri in the loss.

"We just don't have the endurance," said Aztec coach Alberto Barron. "Our endurance is low because of our newcomers. Everyone else has a history of swimming except the newcomers. We can make it happen when our swimmers are fresh and everyone is ready but our endurance kills us."

Barron said Balestreri and co-captain Jorge Camacho have been team leaders this season while first-year goalie Luis Garcia has impressed among the newcomers. "This is his first year ever playing water polo. He has improved dramatically since the first game," Barron said of Garcia.

Despite just one league win -- 14-3 against Southwest -- and two victories overall this season in six games, Barron remains optimistic about this team's chances in the upcoming Metro tournament.

"Depending on how we get seeded, we have a chance to sneak into the championship game. If we can play like we did our first game against Eastlake (a 19-14 Aztec loss), we'll have a chance," Barron said.

Junior varsity notepad

Eastlake finished 1-4 in last weekend's Valhalla tournament. The Titans defeated El Capitan 7-3 behind two goals each from Max Lopez and James Hiney along with single scores from Tom Dziadkowiec, Austin Legg and Sam Gottlieb. Eastlake concluded the tournament with losses to Valhalla (11-3), Torrey Pines (23-4), Granite Hills (12-6) and USDHS (20-12).

Hiney, Dziadkowiec and Nick Floresta all scored twice in the loss to Granite Hills while Legg made 12 saves in the cage. The Titans received three goals from Dziadkoweic and two goals each from Lopez, Floresta and Gottlieb in the loss to USDHS -- a game in which Legg had 10 saves.

"We came up against some heavy competition but I think we did well," Eastlake coach Lonny Wood said. "We went up against some junior laden teams with some muscle mass but we gave them hell."