Water polo: Newport Harbor rips Millikan, 20-9

Richard Dunn

NEWPORT BEACH - Like an unbeatable powerboat, Newport Harbor High’s

boys water polo team hit the accelerator from the opening sprint Thursday

and jet skied to an easy first-round victory over visiting Millikan,

20-9.

Newport Harbor (26-5), top-seeded in the CIF Southern Section Division

I playoffs, generated enough speed in the pool to build a 10-1 lead after

one quarter.

The Sailors’ celebrated starters, led by Ryan Cook (seven goals) and

Peter Belden (eight steals and seven assists), didn’t play together again

until the fourth quarter, after Harbor co-head coach Brian Kreutzkamp

played reserves and junior varsity call-ups in the second and third

quarters.

“With our starting six seniors, that’s the best part of our game --

speed,” said Kreutzkamp, who pulled the poolside strings while longtime

Newport Coach Bill Barnett videotaped the postseason escapade from a

rooftop.

The Sailors, who will face Loyola in the quarterfinals Tuesday at a

home site to be determined today by a coin flip at the section office,

were never challenged in this one with their first-stringers in the

water.

“We didn’t come out and play the way we could have,” Millikan Coach

Brad Silver said. “To get jumped on is not what we expected. That

happened because of our mistakes, but a good team Newport Harbor will

capitalize on those mistakes.”

Millikan’s Rams (12-12), a third-place team from the Moore League,

outscored Harbor’s sophomores (or JV team) in the second quarter, 2-0,

then outscored a collection of Sailor juniors in the third quarter, 4-1.

“Give Millikan credit, (it) kept fighting back and I didn’t want to

put our seniors back in. But I had to in the fourth quarter,” Kreutzkamp

said. “(The Rams) weren’t going to roll over for us.”

The Sea View League champion Sailors unleashed a steady stream of

goals in the fourth quarter to end the Rams’ rally.

After Millikan pulled to within 11-7 after three, Belden made a steal

and subsequent penalty shot with 6:15 on the fourth-quarter clock to

trigger a 9-2 Harbor onslaught.

Senior Joey Snelgrove had four steals, three goals and three assists

for Newport. Belden also had three goals, while seniors Kyle Bean, Steven

Jendrusina and Caine Littrell had two each. Freshman two-meter man

Michael Burry scored Harbor’s only goal in the second or third quarters.

Brandon McLain, Shawn Johnson, Alex Stabler and Nathan McLain all had

their turn in the goalie cage for the Tars.

Newport, which advanced to the CIF semifinals last year, was also led

by Jendrusina’s three assists and five of Belden’s steals in the fourth

quarter. Seniors Greg Worthing and Brian Pentz were solid on defense for

the Tars.

CIF Division IFirst RoundNewport Harbor 20, Millikan 9Score by

QuartersMillikan 1 2 4 2 - 9Newport Harbor 10 0 1 9 -

20Millikan scoring: Spongberg 6, Bryan-Zwick 2, Peterson 1. Saves:

Gunsualus 11.

Newport Harbor scoring: Cook 7, Snelgrove 3, Belden 3, Littrell 2, K.

Bean 2, Jendrusina 2, Burry 1. Saves: B. McLain 2, Johnson 5, N. McLain

2, Stabler 0.