Lancers flex water polo muscles at Spartan Invitational

HILLTOP BESTS CASTLE PARK FOR TOURNAMENT TITLE, OTAY RANCH 4TH, BONITA VISTA 5TH

Hilltop High School junior goalkeeper Timothy Roa has established himself as one of the top defensive players in the Mesa League this season. Photo by Phillip Brents

It hasn’t been easy for the Hilltop High School boys water polo team during the 2021 fall season after head coach Ernie Medina had to temporarily depart the team on extended medical leave.

It’s been seven weeks and the Lancers’ game schedule has picked up in major fashion over the past couple weeks. The team had a chance to reward Medina’s diligence by capturing the championship title of last Saturday’s Spartan Invitational at the Parkway pool.

Medina made an appearance on deck for the championship game — an 18-4 win over the Castle Park Trojans.

“The team’s goal this year is to make the Division II playoffs and it looks like that might happen, though there’s going to be some shifting in the power rankings,” Medina said. “Hats off to John Salts and Sergio Carreon for stepping in. They’ve been very professional in running the team.”

Salts and Carreon have been coaching the team in Medina’s absence and both have done a very good job.

Hilltop High School’s boys water polo team finished undefeated in three games last Saturday to capture the championship of the Spartan Invitational played at the Parkway pool in downtown Chula Vista. Photo by Lee Romero

Hilltop (5-2 in league, 13-4 overall) won all three of its games at last Saturday’s eight-team single-day tournament. The Lancers opened with a 16-1 quarterfinal-round win over Southwest, then defeated Mesa League rival Otay Ranch, 16-5, in the semifinals.

The championship game was tied 1-1 in the early stages before the Lancers jumped ahead 3-1 en route to ending the opening quarter with a 5-2 lead.

Senior Raul Rico led all players in the pool with 10 goals while junior Aidan Garces had three goals, Nikos Kapetanios had two goals and Petros Kapetanios, Eli Reyes and Jason Esquivel all scored single goals.

Senior Ryland Humphrey scored all four of Castle Park’s goals.

Rico paced Hilltop with seven goals in the semifinal win while Garces had four goals.

Nikos Kapetanios had five goals in the quarterfinal win while Garces had four goals.

Salts noted significant contributions in the three games from Rico, Garces and junior goalie Tim Roa.

“Everyone on the team contributed but those three stood out,” Salts said.

The Lancers faced off the final two weeks of regular season play with a 22-9 Mesa League win over Mater Dei Catholic (1-5, 3-14) on Monday.

Castle Park High School senior Ryland Humphrey has established himself as one of the top offensive players in the South Bay League this season. Photos by Phillip Brents

The top three teams in the tournament standings received medals.

Castle Park opened the day with a 17-6 win over Escondido, then recorded a hotly contested 14-13 win over Canyon Hills in the semifinals.

By the end of the day, the Trojans had earned respect from the teams present and made a big jump up to No. 3 in the Division III power rankings.

“We have 10 seniors and it’s been a good run with these guys,” said Trojan head coach Mark Esquivel, whose team recorded an 18-17 win over Canyon Hills in the consolation finals of the recent East County Invitational.

Humphrey led Castle Park in the tournament with 17 goals. He has established himself as one of the most prolific boys water polo players in school history with 105 goals, 32 steals and  24 assists so far this season.

“It was a tough tournament with us playing three games in one day,” Humphrey said. “Hilltop’s a great team. We want to continue to battle with some good teams to prepare us for CIF.”

Castle Park upped its record to 20-2 following Monday’s 5-0 South Bay League win over Chula Vista.

Otay Ranch finished in fourth place in the field following a nail-biting 15-14 setback to the Canyon Hills Rattlers in the third-place game. The game went down to the final shot with the teams tied 12-12 heading into the final frantic minutes.

The Mustangs defeated San Ysidro, 15-2, in the quarterfinals to meet the Lancers in the semifinals.

The Otay Ranch Mustangs finished fourth following a one-goal loss to Canyon Hills in the third-place game. Photo by Phillip Brents

“It was good competition in the tournament,” Otay Ranch coach Carlos Stinson said. “As far as our team, I was impressed how we never gave up.”

Top performers for the Mustangs included Rodney Jiao with 13 goals in the tournament and Jaden Fernandez with seven goals.

Bonita Vista earned fifth place following its 18-4 win over San Ysidro.

The Barons faced off the tourney with a forfeit loss to Canyon Hills because of a lack of a full lineup but later came back to best Escondido, 13-3, in a consolation bracket game once more team members were present.

Kristian Gutierrez paced Bonita Vista with 18 goals in the tourney while Caleb Hutchins had 15 goals.

“We played some good games today,” BVHS coach Betty Alexander said.

Bonita Vista — ninth in the Division III power rankings — evened its season record at 9-9 following Monday’s 8-6 non-league win over Olympian.

Southwest and Escondido both played two games in the tournament.

San Ysidro defeated Southwest, 12-9, behind nine goals from Ian Osuna to advance to the fifth place game.

Southwest (3-3 in league, 3-7 overall) dropped to 16th in the Division III power rankings while San Ysidro (1-5 in league, 2-9 overall) is 18th.

Southwest High School logged two games in last Saturday’s tournament. Photo by Phillip Brents

 

EAST COUNTY INVITATIONAL

A B
1 LCC W L 2 1 Hiltop WL 2
2 Olympian  L L 4 2 Valley Center LL4
3 LJCD  L W 3 3 Canyon Hills LW 3
4 El Cap W W 1 4 Oceanside WW 1
C D
1 Ramona W L 2 1 Granite Hills WW 1
2 Mater Dei  L L 4 2 Castle Park LW 3
3 Bonita Vista L W 3 3 Monte Vista L L 4
4 West Hills W W 1 4 SFC WL 2
Monday  Oct 4
       at El Capitan         at  West Hills
4:15 (1) LCC 20 vs. Oly  2 (17) Ramona 15 vs. Mday 3
5:05 (2) LJCD 6 vs. El Cap 11 (18) BV 3 vs. WH 15
 at Mt Miguel  at Monte Vista
4:15 (0) (19) GH17 vs. Cpark 5
5:05 (3) Hilltop 8 vs. VC 5 (20) MV 11 vs. SFC 13
5:55 (4) C hill vs. Oside
FRIDAY Oct 8
     at El Capitan     at West Hills
4:15 (5) Oly 11 vs. (21) M Day 5 vs. BV 13
5:05 (6) LCC 9 vs. El Cap 10 (22) C Park 18 vs. MV 6
5:55 (7) Valley Crt 10 vs. Canyon 11 (23) Ramona 3 vs. WH 5
6:45 (8) Hilltop 8 vs. Oside 13 (24) GH 15 vs. SFC 6
3:30 (4) Canyon Hills  vs Oceanside  Win
SATURDAY  Oct 9
El Capitan West Hills
8:30 (25) Olympian 6 vs. VC 15 (9) LCC 11 vs. Hilltop 10
9:20 (26) M Day 11 vs.  MV 12 (10) Ramona 8 vs. SFC 5
10:10 (27) LJCD 9 vs. C Hill  12 (11) El Cap 6 vs. Oside 9
11:00 (28) BV  6 vs. Castle P  16 (12) WH 5 vs. GH 15
11:50 (33) Olympian 9 vs. M Day 11 (13) Hilltop 12 vs. SFC 11
12:40 (34) VC 9 vs. MV 3 5th Place >> (14) LCC  9 vs. Ramona 8
1:30 (35) LJCD 10 vs. BV  8 3rd Place >> (15) El Cap 12 vs. WH 9
2:20 (36) C Hills 17 vs. CastleP 18 Championship >> (16) Oside 5 vs. GH 10
Teams who forfeit games will be charged $100.00 per forfeited game.
6 Minute- 1 full time out on Monday & Fri, on Saturday 6 min qtrs. 1 full, 1 30-sec time out
Team listed first is home team. Ot IS Golder Goal 8 Goals up in the 4th – running clock)
Golden Goal for all ties games.