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While only seven local teams remain in the Central Coast Section water polo playoffs, six of those seven could be playing for championships next Saturday.
In the Division I boys’ tournament, No. 2 Palo Alto (18-7) and No. 4 Menlo-Atherton (16-9) have reached the semifinals on Tuesday at Bellarmine Prep. Both are in opposite brackets and could meet each other in the finals.
In the Division II boys’ playoffs, No. 1 Sacred Heart Prep (24-3) and No. 3 Menlo (22-5) will play in the semifinals on Tuesday at Lynbrook High, with both expecting to face each other in the finals on Nov. 17.
The Menlo-Atherton girls (19-8) are still alive in the Division I girls’ tourney and will take their No. 3 seed against No. 2 Mitty on Wednesday at Bellarmine Prep at 5:30 p.m. A victory will move the Bears into the finals against either No. 5 Leland or No. 1 Los Altos.
In the girls’ Division II playoffs, No. 1 Sacred Heart Prep (26-1) will face No. 4 Castilleja (18-8) in Wednesday’s semifinals (5:30 p.m.) at Lynbrook, with the winner advancing to the finals against the St. Francis-Santa Cruz winner.
The Menlo-Atherton boys earned a shot at top-seed Salinas (21-3) in the semifinals on Tuesday at Bellarmine at 5:30 p.m. Salinas shocked defending champion Bellarmine, 9-8.
Menlo-Atherton squeezed in by the barest of margins in its overtime win over Los Altos, rallying from a 5-3 halftime deficit and then charging back after trailing by 7-5 entering the fourth quarter.
The Bears scored four times in the final period with senior Matt Bogott scoring four of his seven goals during that time to force two three-minute overtime periods. Goalie Alex Popp also made OT possible with five of his 13 saves.
M-A’s Simon Hood scored in the first overtime to deadlock the match again.
Popp made his final save late in the second OT and M-A coach Johnny Bega called time to set up a play for Bogott with seven seconds to play. Bogott got a shot off, but it was blocked. Fortunately for the Bears, Kevin Lane grabbed the carom and fired it in just before the buzzer for the victory.
