Edison proves to be among region’s elite

To get the finish it wanted, the Edison High girls’ water polo team needed to focus more on the start.

The Chargers had come out slow in Sunset League losses to Newport Harbor and Los Alamitos earlier this year.

“It was not a physical thing,” Coach Diggy Riley said. “Mentally, we just didn’t come out and stay focused. We didn’t play very smart.”

But over the weekend at the Irvine Southern California Championships, that was clearly not a problem.

Edison will go into the CIF Southern Section Division I playoffs with some big-time momentum. That’s what happens when you beat both Corona del Mar and Newport Harbor for the first time in program history — in the same tournament.

Edison finished third at the tournament. The Chargers topped CdM in Friday’s quarterfinals, 8-4, as Alys Williams, Abby Oshiro and Melissa Balding scored two goals each and Clair Babinski made 11 saves. The teams had come into the tournament tied for fourth in the Division I poll.

But after falling to eventual champion Dos Pueblos, 9-3, in a semifinal, the Chargers (19-6) made an even bigger statement in the third-place game against Newport Harbor. The Sailors had lost to Los Al in the other semifinal and would be looking for a better game but instead Edison won again, 8-5.

Williams scored four goals against the Tars and Warde scored three; both were named to the all-tournament team.

“I told the girls how there is so much pride in that [Newport] program and so much history of winning,” said Riley, a Newport Harbor alumnus who played for current girls’ coach Bill Barnett. “They’ll try to just come out and squash us [but] we didn’t give them anything in the fourth quarter. Nothing.”

Edison, which beat Fountain Valley, 11-2, on Feb. 3, faced Marina in its final Sunset League game Wednesday and now awaits the CIF pairings, which will be released at 11 a.m. Sunday.

Riley surmised that his team might play CdM again if both teams make it to the quarterfinals, and all three top Sunset League teams could make the semifinals.

“There’s so much to be said of the work ethic of these athletes,” said Riley, who helped coach last year’s Edison girls’ swim team to the Division I title. “It’s contagious, working hard and having a positive attitude.”

 

GIRLS’ BASKETBALL

Huntington Beach 62, El Toro 53: Sophomore Kelsey Minato scored 16 and senior Merwa Azizi added 15, as the Oilers won Tuesday’s Sea View League game.

Huntington Beach (19-6, 7-2), ranked No. 7 in Division II-AA, has clinched second place in league and plays at Foothill tonight.

Edison 76, Fountain Valley 41: The Chargers have clinched the outright Sunset League title and beat the Barons on Tuesday behind 24 points from Bonnie Samuelson, 19 from Karlie Samuelson and 17 from Christina Marquette. Edison (19-4, 9-0) is ranked No. 4 in Division II-AA.

Sami Little scored 17 and Caitlyn Ducat added 14 for the Barons (10-14, 2-6).

Marina 38, Newport Harbor 34: Alyssa Kinoshita scored a game-high 13 points Tuesday for the Vikings (5-3 in league). Marina is tied for second in the Sunset League with Esperanza.

 

BOYS’ SOCCER

Edison 1, Esperanza 0: The Chargers’ Kyle Ball scored in the final minute of a rain-drenched game Friday, helping Edison (18-4-2, 8-1) clinch the outright Sunset League title. The Chargers are ranked No. 5 in Division I.

Fountain Valley 2, Marina 1: Ethan Morrow and Christian Rodriguez both scored for the Barons (7-12-2, 3-5-1) in Friday’s Sunset League win. Andy Espino scored for Marina (2-7 in league).

 

GIRLS’ SOCCER

Edison 2, Fountain Valley 1: Shannon Wright scored in overtime to propel the Chargers past their rivals. Rachael Larson also scored for Edison (11-5-4, 5-3-1), which hosts Newport Harbor today.

Edison has wrapped up third place in Sunset League and an automatic CIF berth.

Orange 3, Ocean View 2: The Seahawks fell to 5-2-2 in league after Tuesday’s loss. They host Saddleback in their regular-season finale today.

Playoff Time

CIF pairings will be announced this weekend at www.cifss.org, as follows:

Girls’ water polo: 11 a.m. Sunday

Boys’ basketball: Noon Sunday

Girls’ basketball: Noon Sunday

Boys’ and girls’ soccer: Noon to 1:30 p.m. Monday, depending on division