Newport Harbor boys’ water polo wraps up season as regional runner-up

WALNUT â€”  The Newport Harbor High boys’ water polo team did not quite get the cherry on top.

It was rival JSerra that came away with an 11-9 win in the CIF Southern California Regional Division I title game at Mt. San Antonio College, denying the Sailors an undefeated season.

Keeping with the analogy, though, Newport Harbor chose to focus on the delicious ice cream sundae that was its 2024 season as a whole.

That included a dramatic comeback victory over the same JSerra team just a week before, in the CIF Southern Section Open Division title match at the same venue.

“It’s really tough to get up and bring the energy [for this game],” Sailors senior goalkeeper Luke Harris said. “They’ve got nothing to lose, so they’re going to come out firing, and we have everything to lose. It’s disappointing we lost. It’s sad, we’re all kind of bummed, but the real win was last Saturday. That’s what we care about.”

JSerra (29-4) got six goals from junior Connor Colman, in what coach Brett Ornsby described as a sort of coming out party.

Newport Harbor’s Kai Kaneko (21), shown earlier in the season, had a team-high four goals in Saturday’s match.

(James Carbone)

The No. 2-seeded Lions also held top-seeded Newport Harbor to converting just one of nine power-play chances, while cashing in on five of six such opportunities themselves. JSerra had three field blocks on Newport Harbor power play shots in the first half, two by junior center Tyler Anderson.

The match was tied 5-5 late in the first half before JSerra rattled off five straight goals, a streak that extended into the fourth quarter on Colman’s power-play goal.

“Last Saturday night [in the Open Division final], we were mostly pretty good defensively,” Ornsby said. “But the one thing I noticed when I went back and watched the tape is we kind of faded a little bit in the second half. We weren’t quite as sharp and focused, so I was really just challenging the boys. We didn’t play a ton of guys, so you’ve got to dig deep and keep that energy up, and today they did that.”

Junior attacker Kai Kaneko led Newport Harbor (33-1) with four goals. Senior left-hander James Mulvey added three goals and two assists, while seniors Weston Hartel and Lucca Van Der Woude also scored. Van Der Woude, a hero in the Open Division title match, also had five steals in Saturday’s regional final.

The Sailors’ deficit was 11-6 midway through the fourth quarter before Mulvey finally hit on his team’s first six-on-five strike. Newport Harbor then got two more goals with an extra attacker, as Connor Ohl put on goalie cap No. 1A and went into the front court, but in the end the Sailors ran out of time.

Though both the Sailors and Lions had competitive regional semifinal matches to get to Saturday’s game, nobody was surprised to find them there. This was the third straight year that Newport Harbor and JSerra have faced each other in both the Open Division and Southern California Regional Division I title matches.

Newport Harbor’s Weston Hartel (9), shown competing earlier this season, scored a goal in Saturday’s regional final.

(James Carbone)

Newport Harbor coach Ross Sinclair admitted his team looked flat in the regional final, but pointed toward winning the more prestigious Open Division title.

“Last Saturday was big,” Sinclair said of winning the team’s third Open Division crown in four years. “We had an awesome season. We won CIF, and I’m proud for that. We looked at these three [regional] games as an opportunity to just play as a group together again. That was the goal, to kind of maximize and enjoy that, use it as an opportunity to celebrate the successes of the season.”

Harris, who was in the program all four years and spent two of those years as starting varsity goalkeeper, said he was sad the run was over but proud of the accomplishments.

“You can’t overthink it,” he said. “We’re bummed we lost [today], but we know that we had a successful season and that’s all that matters to us. I’m happy about the past four years. It’s been amazing, I wouldn’t want to change a thing. I’ve grown so tight with this team.

“Every single person on this team, I’m friends with. They’re like my brothers.”