Playoff Water Polo roundup: Granite Bay, Woodcreek and Del Oro all advance to championship games

The first three rounds of the Sac-Joaquin Section water polo playoffs have concluded with section championship matches taking place on Saturday at the Roseville Aquatics Center. Here is a look at how all high school teams from the South Placer area have fared. Division I The Granite Bay High girls' water polo team has made it to the Division I section championship game for the second year in a row, following a 5-2 win over St. Mary's on Wednesday night. After leading 3-2 at halftime, Grizzlies senior Avery Moll scored two second-half goals to lead her team to victory. Moll has led the Grizzlies all season with 111 goals. "She has made such an impact on our program and is such a hard worker," Grizzlies coach Tyson Frenn said. "She is a great leader and I'm so proud of her." Granite Bay High played great defense all game and only gave up two goals late in the first and second quarters. Sophomore goalkeeper Brooke Boyer had eight saves in the match. On the flip side, the Lady Grizzlies struggled to get it past St. Mary's goalkeeper Lily Kirby, who totaled 13 saves on the night. "Tonight, our center defender and captain, Noelani Gardner, was just an absolute monster and shut down everything they had in the middle, which allowed us to press," Frenn said. The Lady Grizzlies won their first two playoff games against Franklin and Oak Ridge. Granite Bay High lost to Davis High last year in the section championship and will attempt to avenge that loss on Saturday to capture their first title in school history. "I think the biggest thing is limiting our turnovers as that is what leads to their counter attack, which is their strength," Frenn said. "We need to control the ball, play through our centers, put some shots on net and I really think we have a shot." The Granite Bay boys' team dominated Downey 21-2 in their first round matchup on Nov. 2 with Seth Bousfield and Carmelo Bangs each scoring four goals for the Grizzlies. There were nine different goal scorers for Granite Bay High in the match and they were up 14-0 at halftime. "I thought we played really well but we did get off to a shaky start not scoring for the first couple of possessions," Bousfield said. "For my play, I messed up some things that I need to fine tune but overall, I thought I played well in the first half." The Grizzlies went on to face Rio Americano in the second round last Friday where they fell 7-6 to end the season. Granite Bay High fought until the very end as they were down 5-3 entering the final seven minutes of action and scored three goals in the fourth quarter. Rocklin High's boys' team lost 8-6 to Jesuit in the Division I semifinals at American River College on Wednesday night. The Thunder were up 3-1 at the end of the first quarter but the Marauders outscored them 6-1 in the second and third quarters en route to victory. In their prior two matches, Rocklin High defeated Franklin and Turlock. Senior Eddie Hill combined for seven goals in the two matches. "You have to practice a lot and put in the work to be able to compete at a level like this," Hill said. "We are hoping to defend our section title and I feel like a game like this clarifies that we can play at this high level." Division II The Woodcreek High girls' and boys' water polo teams will both play in the Division II section championship on Saturday. The Lady Timberwolves defeated El Capitan 13-8 on Tuesday. In their prior contest against Sonora on Nov. 3, Woodcreek High jumped out to a 10-0 lead at halftime and were led by the play of senior Olivia Dam, who scored five goals in the game. "Our overall movement and speed really helped," Dam said. "We are able to outswim a majority of teams so we really capitalize on that and are able to get those quick shots off." Senior goalkeeper Emily Jones also had nine saves in the match. The boys were able to fend off a late comeback by El Capitan and win 18-17 on Wednesday. In their prior match against Buhach Colony, the Timberwolves scored six second- quarter goals to take an 8-2 lead at halftime and never looked back. Senior Caden Rutan scored five goals for Woodcreek High in the match while goalkeeper Jack Donnell made eight saves. "It kind of came down to us moving the ball downline and holding it so we would drive through and then break their defense," Rutan said. Both teams have only made it to the section championship once: the girls in 2002 and the boys in 2005. The boys will face Del Oro while the girls take on Buhach Colony. Speaking of the Golden Eagles, Del Oro High came back from a 7-5 deficit at halftime to defeat Ponderosa 14-12 in the section semifinals on Wednesday. They scored five goals in the fourth quarter and were led by Cole Brown, who had three goals and an assist. Del Oro High has been led all season by senior Caden Pitzer, who has totaled 84 goals and scored twice while adding an assist on Wednesday night. The Lady Eagles lost 10-9 in double overtime to Buhach Colony in the section semifinals on Tuesday. In their prior match against Bella Vista on Nov. 3, the Golden Eagles led 8-6 at halftime and were able to resist a late push to win 14-13. Senior Heidi Green scored five goals and added two assists in the match while junior Maya Oshetski totaled 13 saves. In the first half, Bella Vista attempted to get the ball out of Green's hands, which opened up room for players such as junior Jane Lubiens, who put it in the back of the net three times. "We have some great supporting cast players who can see the game a bit faster and Jane is a great player who utilizes her speed a lot," Hertel said. "My plan was to put Heidi in the middle where our girls had other opportunities to finish. Maya began as goalie in February and trained all spring and summer. We wouldn't be the team we are without her. We do have to limit our turnovers and sometimes we just make silly mistakes where we force opportunities or shots that we should be more patient with in our shot clock. If we take care of the ball a bit better, it can lead to more goals or opportunities where we don't get counter-attacked on." Division III The Oakmont Vikings sent both their boys' and girls' water polo teams to the postseason. The boys finished the regular season with a 9-8 record and earned the seven-seed in Division III. They played at Ripon High in the first round last Friday and lost 21-10. The girls ended the 2022 season with a 9-10 record earning the five-seed and faced Dixon High in the first round on Nov. 3, losing 9-6. Both Vikings teams finished second in the Foothill Valley League.