SD Prep Sports

SD Prep Sports: Water Polo

Titans take scoring fest from Aztecs

Eastlake's Nik Clair-Williams continues record book assault

By Phillip Brents

CHULA VISTA, Oct. 10, 2002 -- While statistics are still being verified, one thing remains constant — Eastlake High senior Nik Clair-Williams’ assault on the record book. Clair-Williams, whose heart actually lies more in swimming rather than water polo, scored nine goals for the third time in five games to lead the Titans to a 19-14 Metro Conference victory against Montgomery at Southwestern College.

Clair-Williams — the San Diego Section’s Division II sprint freestyle champion his sophomore season — racked up more than 150 goals his first two water polo seasons while scoring more than 95 goals his junior campaign. Exact numbers are still pending but with 37 goals in five games this season, he is poised to enter his name among the top 10 to 15 players all-time in the San Diego Section record book while placing his stamp on the school career scoring record.
All in a sport he pursues more for fun.

Assisted by Clair-Williams’ remarkable scoring output, Eastlake finds itself sporting an undefeated 5-0 record entering play in this year’s San Diego Open tournament (Oct. 14, 17-19).

The Titans improved to 2-0 in Metro play as Steve Sanchez, James Laxson, Alex Howell and Peter Silva all chipped in with multiple goals. Sanchez contributed three goals while both Howell and Silva scored twice. James Hiney rounded out the Eastlake offense with one goal.

“It feels great to be undefeated at this point. I hope it’s a trend that can continue. If they play together in the water, it can,” said first-year Titan coach Lonny Wood.
The Titans received their strongest test in conference play from an Aztec team that man-for-man may be the most talented in the league. Montgomery coach Alberto Barron just wishes he had more ironmen to go around in what amounts to a rebuilding phase. “We lost some key players. Our goal this year is to keep the team solid,” Barron said.

The Aztecs started strong, taking leads of 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 before tying the game at 8-8 and 9-9 with 3:49 left in the third period. Montgomery trailed by margins of 11-9 and 14-11 late in the contest before Clair-Williams gave his team some breathing room with a pair of unanswered goals — one on a backhand shot and another on a four-meter penalty shot — early in the final period. The Titans finished the game with three power play goals.

Clair-Williams once again demonstrated his scoring ability from all parts of the tank, though his aim was a bit off against the Aztecs. He had three goals in the first quarter — a 6-4 Titan lead — but could have had twice that with as many hit posts. He scored from a restart at half tank to give Eastlake the lead for good at 10-9. Clair-Williams had a team-high eight steals to help jump-start his team’s offense.

Senior Jorge Camacho, who had eight goals in a previous 16-8 non-league win against Morse, led Montgomery with six goals against the Titans. Junior Manlio Elazab, who was a member of the 2000 Aztec team that forged a tri-championship with both Eastlake and Bonita Vista, had three goals in the game while sophomore Roberto Balestreri scored two goals. Montgomery received single goals from sophomores Juan Carlos Martinez, Cesar Camacho and Juan Pablo Carrillo.
Jorge Camacho and Balestreri scored to give the Aztecs their three early game leads. Clair-Williams tied the score after Montgomery’s initial two leads. Laxson’s power play goal tied the game at 3-3 and started a run of three unanswered Titan goals. Camacho’s third goal of the period cut the margin to 5-4 before Silva ended the first period with a goal to once again initiate a run of three consecutive Eastlake tallies.

While the first quarter featured 10 goals, the second period focused more on defense with just three goals scored between the teams. Martinez cut the Titan lead to 8-5 at halftime to position the Aztecs for a run of four unanswered goals that tied the game 8-8 with 4:35 left in a third period that featured 11 goals between the teams. Elazab had two of Montgomery’s three goals to start the third quarter, the last off a steal against reserve goalie Austin Legg (Howell played the first half and the final period). Clair-Williams scored on a backhander to help the Titans regain the lead at 9-8. But the Aztecs responded on a half-tank shot by Balestreri to promptly knot the score at 9-9. Eastlake then reeled off five consecutive goals to lead 14-9.

A pair of Montgomery goals cut the Titan lead to 14-11 with 6:14 to play in the game before Howell returned to the cage in what would be another scoring fest with nine goals in the period. Four more Eastlake goals extended the lead to 18-11. The Aztecs attempted a late comeback as the two Camachos scored back-to-back goals to lift Montgomery to within five goals. But Howell came up huge on two point-blank shots at the post to deny the visitors any realistic chances of narrowing the score.