Sacred Heart Prep water polo teams solid in tourneys

The Sacred Heart Prep girls’ and boys’ water polo teams are ranked No. 1 in the Central Coast Section for good reason.

The girls began this week 11-0 after winning the NorCal Championship Tournament on Saturday in Atherton, finishing off a 5-0 weekend with a 7-3 win over No. 2-seeded Rio Americano.

The boys began this week 10-1 after a 4-1 effort at the Villa Park Classic in Southern California, where the Gators fell to El Toro in the championship match, 12-11, in overtime.

While beating many of the best teams in the state, both SHP girls’ coach Jon Burke and Gators’ boys’ coach Brian Kreutzkamp know their squads still have a long way to go and still much to prove despite their recent accomplishments.

“We won the last three major tournaments, other than CCS,” Burke said, “so we’re wearing a target.”

Both SHP teams still have West Catholic Athletic League titles to win, plus more tournaments coming up in preparation for their runs at CCS Division II titles. After last weekend’s performances, however, the Gators appear in good shape.

On their way to winning a second NorCal crown since 2005, the SHP girls beat the defending CCS Division I champ (Mitty), the No. 1 team from the Central Valley (Buchanan) and the five-time San Joaquin Section champ (Rio Americano).

“This (title) means a lot,” Burke said. “It’s the first time we’ve hosted this tournament and we wanted to do well.”

The Gators did that and more, holding the opposition to nine goals in five matches.

“We’re playing great defense,” Burke said. “That’s where it all starts.”

In 11 matches thus far, the Gators are holding opponents to an average of two goals a game while scoring 12 per contest. SHP senior goalie Lindsay Dorst had 35 saves in four NorCal matches (she sat one out) and senior teammate Pallavi Menon tallied 18 goals, including three tough ones in the finale. Senior Caroline Clark plus juniors Yvonne Dunlevie (12 goals) and Mary Jane Mordell also had standout efforts among the SHP contributors.

Palo Alto (6-5) finished a strong sixth after going 3-2, beating Menlo-Atherton in two overtimes and topping Modesto-power Johansen, 8-7 in overtime behind Hallie Keenan’s four goals.

The Sacred Heart Prep boys 16 goals from Tim Norton and 13 from Paul Rudolph (six in the finals) in the Villa Park Classic, but the Gators likely came away feeling they should have won the event after taking a three-goal lead into the fourth quarter.

“We have to play better with a three-goal lead,” said Kreutzkamp, whose team was seeded third. El Toro, the No. 2-ranked team in Orange County, was the No. 1 seed.

Norton was named to the all-tournament team along with senior goalie Michael Wishart, who had 18 saves in the championship match.

Sacred Heart Prep was one of two local teams that finished second last weekend. Palo Alto (9-4) was runnerup at the annual St. Francis Invitational following a 12-8 loss to the host Lancers. The Vikings reached the finals with a 9-8 win over Los Altos in triple overtime on a goal by Geng Wang. Paly opened with a 7-4 win over Mitty.

Tim Wenzlau led Paly with seven goals, Wang had six and Michael Fortune tallied five while goalie Will Simon had 41 blocks, including 17 against Mitty.

Menlo-Atherton took fifth in the St. Francis tourney with a 2-1 mark as Matt Bogott scored 23 goals. He had 10 in a 17-10 second-round win over Soquel.

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