CdM reigns supreme

Joseph Boo

BELMONT SHORE - The wait is over.

For the seniors on Corona del Mar High’s boys water polo team, their

career has been filled with so many dreams, but it took four years and a

hard-fought 8-6 victory over defending champion Servite to finally

achieve it with a CIF Southern Section Division II title on Wednesday.

“We worked our (butts) off for four years for this,” CdM senior two-meter

man Garret Gentry said.

“Four years of work, 17 years of training, this is it right here,” senior

Alex Niehenke said. “My year’s complete.”

“I feel confused right now,” CdM’s senior goalie Brad Netherton said.

“We’ve been talking about it since our freshman year. And to finally win

it, I don’t know how I feel.”

The title, won in the waters of Belmont Plaza, marks the 10th for the Sea Kings. But it’s been 10 years since CdM (20-10) last won a championship,

and five years since its last final appearance.

“I’m really proud of the kids,” CdM Coach John Vargas said. “They deserve

it.”

While the 13 seniors on the CdM squad finally achieved their goal, it was

junior Garrett Bowlus who made it possible. Bowlus scored the first three

goals for CdM and led all scorers with four goals.

“He stepped up,” Vargas said. “I’m really proud of him.”

“I thought I got good looks at the goal for the counter,” Bowlus said. “I

had some openings, so I took it.”

“Really, I couldn’t have done it without my teammates.”

Bowlus’ first two goals gave No. 2 seed CdM a 2-1 lead after the first

period. But top seed Servite (22-5) took the lead with two quick goals

from the two-meter spot at the start of the second.

This was one of the few times Servite’s dangerous two-meter men Michael

Kim and Dane Jensen got free from CdM’s defense. Otherwise, Servite could

not get consistent production from the inside with CdM’s defense and

Netherton playing well.

After a tense battle in the second, Bowlus got his third goal to tie the

game up. Moments later, Morgan Johnston stole the ball, CdM forced an

ejection, and Niehenke scored the six-on-five goal to give CdM the lead

again.

Bowlus’ fourth goal came at the start of the second half. But Servite

storm back with three consecutive goals. Vincent Bevins knocked in a

rebound off a Netherton save, Kim scored his second goal, an a perimeter

shot from Jensen bounced off the crossbar and trickled in.

But CdM answered immediately. Netherton found Chriss Street wide open on

a counter for the tying goal. And Gentry scored for the first time off an

assist from Street for the Sea Kings to retake the lead.

“We had the better swimmers,” Vargas said about his team. “That let us

take advantage of counters.”

Servite turned up its defense in the fourth, forcing five turnovers at

the start. But it could not score, and the frustrated Friars got an

ejection that led to a Gentry goal.

With it’s season on the line, Servite roared back and got two

six-on-fives. But the Friars missed the shot on the first one, and

Johnston picked up an errant pass to kill the second one. Gentry then ran

down most of the clock to seal Servite’s fate and the championship for

CdM.

“We were just stymieing and knocking down shots,” Gentry said about the

end of the game. “We wanted it. We really wanted it.”

CIF DIVISION II FINALS

(at Belmont Plaza)

Corona del Mar 8, Servite 6

Corona del Mar 2 2 3 1 - 8

Servite 1 2 3 0 - 6

Corona del Mar: Bowlus 4, Gentry 2, Niehenke 1, Street 1. Saves:

Netherton 10.

Servite: Jensen 2, Kim 2, Mounigan 1, Bevins 1. Saves: de Grasse 11.