HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS:

Throw out the Newport Harbor High boys’ water polo team’s 7-1 record. Disregard the fact that the Sailors were ranked No. 2 in the CIF Southern Section Division I coaches’ poll a week ago.

For the Sailors and Coach Jason Lynch, it’s already been an up-and-down season.

But Newport Harbor was way up by the end of the day Saturday, after winning the South Coast Tournament for the first time since 1999.

“It’s great to win,” Lynch said. “The bottom line is it doesn’t mean anything, because it’s September. But we’ve been struggling, so it’s nice to get a win like this.”

“Struggling” is a relative word, because even in playing poorly the Sailors were able to defeat Riverside Poly, 5-4, in the tournament quarterfinals on Friday. And it’s not like Riverside Poly is a slouch with its No. 5 ranking in the Division II coaches’ poll.

But after that game, Lynch made it crystal-clear that he wasn’t happy, calling his team “inept” and “disjointed” on offense.

It’s still early in the season, though, and Newport Harbor is still getting back to full strength. Senior Collin Sherman, who had been out sick, played his first game of the season against Riverside Poly.

On Saturday, in the semifinals against Villa Park, Lynch also tried some different things out. He started junior Zach Osadche and gave some playing time to Sherman and sophomore Zach Lucas early on.

“I got some guys a little rest early,” Lynch said after the 8-7 Newport Harbor win.

Saturday also turned out to be a good day for the entire Newport Harbor aquatics program. The Sailors’ frosh-soph team won the Charger Cup tournament.

Just like the varsity team, the frosh-soph Sailors defeated El Toro in the final. The frosh-soph score was 14-5, Tars.

The Costa Mesa High girls’ tennis team has a new coach, but it’s hardly an unfamiliar face.

Jim Weeks, also the girls’ basketball coach at Mesa, is back coaching girls’ tennis for the third time. Weeks, who replaces four-year coach Sean Lance, also coached the Mustang tennis girls from 1981-88 and in 2000.

Weeks said he missed all of summer practice and got the job the week before school started.

“We’ve got our work cut out for us,” he said. “We’ll just compete as hard as we can. If we do that, it’s going to be a successful year.”

But the Mustangs are making progress, led by singles players Lindsay Levanas, a senior, and junior Sandra Im.

The No. 1 doubles team of Kathy Trinh and Denise Rosello has also done well. Trinh and Rosello, two seniors who also play basketball for Weeks, won two sets in Costa Mesa’s (1-2) nonleague win against Loara Wednesday.

“Tennis is a great cross-training sport for basketball,” Weeks said. “The footwork is similar, and in tennis you develop confidence in yourself. It leads to being more confident on the basketball court.”

With this year’s Corona del Mar High girls’ tennis team having lost so much talent from last year’s CIF Southern Section Division I championship team, some younger players were going to have to step up.

One of the biggest steps has been made by CdM sophomore Kelli Feeley, who now occupies the No. 2 doubles spot for the Sea Kings (3-1) with partner Danielle Kaiden, a junior.

“She’s our most improved player by far,” Sea Kings Coach Brian Ricker said. “She started last year at No. 4 doubles on JV. She was just happy to be there at the beginning of the season.”

Feeley went on to win the Pacific Coast League JV doubles championship with Auriel O’Neil last year. And she has already shown she can compete under pressure this year, when she and Kaiden won a 6-1, 5-7, 10-8 match over Northern California power Monta Vista.

The victory, at the California High School Tennis Classic championship match in Clovis, lifted CdM to the title on Sept. 8.

“Kelli is very athletic, she moves really well,” Ricker said. “That’s her big strength. She’s outstanding at the net, a very good poacher. She still has a lot of areas she can improve, but she can be a top doubles player.”

It’s still early in the season, but the Costa Mesa High boys’ water polo game against Sage Hill this week has all the makings of a thriller.

The game, at Corona del Mar High on Wednesday at 6:15 p.m., is the Orange Coast League opener for both schools.

And both teams definitely want to get off on the right foot to start league. Last year, they had a pair of games that weren’t decided until the closing seconds, but the Lightning won each game and eventually clinched the second of two CIF Southern Section Division II playoff spots.

MATT SZABO may be reached at (714) 966-4614 or by e-mail at [email protected].