Boys water polo
Division I
De La Salle 14, Campolindo 8
Davidka Skov scored two of his team-high four goals in the third quarter as NCS Open champion De La Salle pulled away from Campolindo and advanced to the program’s first NorCal Division I final.
His most spectacular score was his last, a one-man counterattack where he got the steal and swam the entire length of the pool before getting a shot past the keeper.
Breydon Congo had three goals, Lukas Peters and Sloan Brown scored two apiece, and Colin Sullivan had one goal for De La Salle, which outscored Campolindo 5-1 in the third quarter to pull away.
Campolindo got a team-high three goals from Hayden O’Hare and two from Ellis Culleton. Cougars goalkeeper Drew DeFrancisci had two impressive saves on back-to-back five-meter shots, but Campolindo was called for fouls after each shot.
On the third, Peters finally converted for DLS with 3:30 left in the third quarter, and the Spartans didn’t look back. The Concord program will face host Sacred Heart Prep at 5:30 p.m. in the Division I final on Saturday.
Sacred Heart Prep 12, Miramonte 11
The matchup is set: the best team from the Central Coast Section will face the top team in the North Coast Section for the Division I title.
Sacred Heart Prep slipped past Miramonte by one goal in a rematch of last season’s NorCal Division I title game.
Gates Gamble and Oliver Marcin each scored three goals for the victorious Gators, Clay Carrington and Nelson Harris had two goals apiece, and Karl Sylvester and Luke Kirincich had one goal each.
Gamble led the team with four assists and two steals, while Marcin had a team-high seven exclusions drawn.
Sacred Heart Prep will attempt to win a third consecutive NorCal Division I title.
Division II
Menlo School 11, Rocklin 10
The Knights got five goals and three steals from Hunter Coleman as Menlo School held off a spirited Rocklin rally to advance to the NorCal Division II championship. Jackson Coleman also had three goals and a team-high eight steals.
Adam Afar scored twice and Lincoln Bott had one goal. Alex Stoffel led the Knights with four assists. Menlo School will take on Clovis, which defeated Redwood 11-10 in the other semifinal match.
Division III
Los Altos 8, Merced 6
Trailing by one in hostile territory, Los Altos outscored host Merced by three goals in the fourth quarter to clinch its spot in the NorCal Division III championship.
Benji Barkovich and Tiernan Braun each scored two goals to lead the Eagles to victory, and Bruno Beckman, Will O’Shaughnessy and Colby Sims all scored one goal each for Los Altos.
Braun had two steals, and Joe Tadros and Ferran de Witt each had two blocks for the South Bay school. Los Altos will take on Ripon at Sacred Heart Prep on Saturday.
Ripon 11, Valley Christian 10
Host Ripon broke Valley Christian hearts by scoring the game-winner with 5.6 seconds left in the NorCal Division III semifinal.
Garett Crabb, Chase Blitzer, Darius Deac, Micah Hernandez and Joe Shinn all got on the scoreboard for the Warriors from San Jose. Crabb had tied the game with 31 seconds left in the match.
Valley Christian ended its season 12-17.
Girls water polo
Division I
Sacred Heart Prep 9, Miramonte 4
Sacred Heart Prep knocked out the three-time defending champs and advanced to the NorCal Division I title game, where the Gators will face the NCS Open champions Carondelet.
Lauren Rossi, Vivian Golub and Kiernan Hogan each scored two goals for the Atherton school, and Natalia Sczerba, Casey Coleman and Megan Newby each scored once.
Sczerba and Rossi each had two assists, and Rossi paced the Gators with two blocks too. Sacred Heart Prep led 3-1 at halftime but scored five in the third quarter to pull away from Miramonte, which ends its season at 18-8.
Sacred Heart Prep will play host to Carondelet at 4 p.m.
Carondelet 10, Arroyo Grande 5
Josie Haast scored a game-high six goals to power the Cougars to the NorCal Division I title game and into the Concord school’s first-ever D-I championship match.
Ainsley Swann, Emilia Haast, Quinn Arroyo and Reagan Fullerton all scored once for Carondelet as well, which pulled away by outsourcing Arroyo Grande 4-2 in the fourth quarter.
The Cougars aren’t strangers to regional hardware. Carondelet captured the 2022 Division II title.
Division II
San Ramon Valley 8, Davis 7
The Wolves held on for a thrilling victory and punched their ticket to the NorCal Division II title and a matchup with Stevenson.
Olivia Anderson had two goals, three steals and an assist, and Natalie Buck stuffed the stat sheet with two goals, a pair of assists, five steals and a block.
Daphne Mundelius had two assists and three ejections earned, and Izzy Richards had a goal and four steals.
Brooke Temkin had a goal and a steal, Khamila Martell had a goal, an assist and four steals while Everleigh Jasso had two steals. Stevenson beat Leland 13-11 in the other semifinal.
Other news:
Longtime Campolindo girls water polo coach Kim Everist announced her retirement on Thursday. She had coached the Cougars since 2006, winning four NCS Division II titles in a five-year span from 2010-2014.
