The Alameda High School mens water polo team defeated Pinole Valley 16-11 in a dramatic game Saturday afternoon to win the division crown for the second year in a row. The lady Hornets lost their game to Piedmont for a 4th place finish, but looked strong doing it.
The Hornets will compete next weekend in the North Coast Sectionals tournament (exact venue and bracket to be determined.)
Winning the ACCAL championship was especially sweet for the Hornets after having to scramble for water when the local pools were suddenly shut down with no warning. The team had to shuttle to Oakland for late night practices.
"I'm so proud of this team I can't put it into words" said coach Marshall Dortch. "No one gave us a chance to beat Berkeley in the 2nd round, we did. No one expected the championship game to be close, we won. Kids have been overachieving, just makes me proud."
Senior Daniel Daniel led the Hornet with 7 goals. Seniors Evan Shum and Jared Thompson added 3 and 2 respectively, and junior Curtis Fong scored twice.
Coaches for both teams received warnings early in the game for comments coming from the bench. Pinole Valley's coach was eventually ejected from the game early in the 4th quarter. Alameda's goalie, sophomore Anthony Huang, was also ejected from the game on a technical foul with 3 minutes left in the game when he accidently got out of the pool instead of going to the ejection area. Curtis Fong had to switch caps and finish the game as goalie.
This marks the first time Alameda has won back-to-back championships in 15 years. "Coach Rodd is a legend, I work everyday to live up to the standards he set for this program" adds Dortch.
Lady Hornets Finish Strong Season
The Alameda High School girls water polo team finished another strong season in 4th place at the division championships in a tight loss to Piedmont. Seniors Kelly Arth and Cynthia Hughes each scored 2 goals, 2 steals, and 1 assist. Senior Megan McGrath scored 3 goals, made 3 steals, and 1 assist. Senior Julia McLean scored 1 goal, made 5 steals, and 2 assists. Junior Erica Escalante made 9 saves as goalie.
"These girls have been fighters all season long. Our starting goalie bailed on us again after about five games so we had to take McGrath, our best field player out of the field and put her into the cage," said head coach Leslie Cortez. "I thought that would hurt us offensively but the girls really stepped up. We had a pretty good strategy of leaving her in the cage for at least three quarters to keep the game close and switched goalies in the fourth to get more offense going."
Coach Cortez said they this strategy got them some great wins and close losses to quality teams this season. Other notable players for the lady Hornets are Julia McLean and Mariana Daniel, who have been the backbone of defense all season long. They were short-handed during the tournament (with some key players out) and were disappointed with their 2nd round loss to Pinole. "They should be proud of themselves. I know I am" added Cortez.
