Newport Harbor defeated Cathedral Catholic for the fifth time in six meetings this season to capture the CIF Southern California Regional Division 1 boys water polo title Saturday with a 14-12 victory at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, Calif.
The Sailors (33-1), who have appeared in all eight Division 1 regional championship matches since the playoffs were first introduced in 2017, won their first title since 2021 and the third in school history, in addition to 2018.
Newport Harbor had lost the past three regional finals to JSerra, including an 11-9 setback last year that denied the Sailors an undefeated season.
Cathedral Catholic (25-6), which won the 2022 Division 2 regional championship, was making its first appearance in the Division 1 regional final.
The Dons handed Newport Harbor their lone loss Oct. 11 by earning a 9-7 victory.
The Sailors rebounded Oct. 18 with a 15-10 win against Cathedral Catholic, followed by the championship victory Saturday in the same Mt. San Antonio College pool where Newport Harbor also captured the CIF Southern Section Open Division title Nov. 15 with a 10-3 victory against rival Corona del Mar.
Kai Kaneko led Newport Harbor with four goals, Connor Ohl added three goals, along with Dash D’Ambrosia and Geoff Slutzky each scoring twice for the Sailors, who led 7-5 at halftime.
Newport Harbor maintained a 10-9 lead following the third quarter, then opened the fourth with three consecutive goals in the first two minutes.
Cathedral Catholic, which received two goals apiece from Jett Taylor, Diego Dantas, Hudson Tweed and Grayson Taylor, cut the deficit to 13-12 with 2:13 left on a goal by Dantas.
Connor Clougherty, who recorded 12 saves, produced several timely stops late in the contest for Newport Harbor and Kaneko secured the title by scoring with 11 seconds remaining to account for the final margin.
Cathedral Catholic accounted for three of the four highest-scoring performances by an opponent against Newport Harbor this season and didn’t win either matchup.
Southern California Division 2: The Bishop’s School 12, Santana 6
Aden Shin and Colton Bell both scored four goals for The Bishop’s School (18-15), which won its first regional title in a showdown of CIF San Diego Section programs and schools both making their finals debut.
The Bishop’s School won the Southern California Regional Division 2 boys water polo crown in its finals debut | Photo courtesy of Alex Valladares
Hanrui Liu scored twice for The Bishop’s School, which held a 6-4 halftime advantage.
The Knights extended their advantage to 10-6 entering the fourth and held Santana (27-5) scoreless for the final eight minutes to secure the championship in the first meeting among the teams since 2023.
The Bishop’s School was making its debut in the Division 2 regional after previously competing six times in Division 1.
Sebastian Trinidad scored twice for the Sultans, who surrendered the first two goals of the match and never led in the contest.
Santana reached its first Division 2 regional championship match after two previous appearances in the semifinals.
Southern California Division 3: Temecula Valley 14, Charter Oak 8
Another showdown of first-time regional finalists highlighted a pair of CIF Southern Section programs, with senior Chase Wedell leading all scorers across the three championship matches at Mt. San Antonio College with five goals for the Golden Bears (17-11).
Nicolai Sardina added four goals, Connor Liu contributed three goals and Hayden Dablaing scored twice for Temecula Valley, which led 9-5 at halftime.
Owen Herald and Ty Linger each had three goals for Charter Oak (18-12), which surrendered the first three goals and fell behind 5-1 in the opening quarter and never recovered.
Linger cut the deficit to 11-7 on a goal with five minutes remaining, before Sardina and Liu scored less than a minute apart for Temecula Valley to regain momentum and secure the regional title.
Northern California Division 1: Sacred Heart Prep 11, Miramonte 10
Gates Gamble scored the winning goal with one second remaining Saturday at University of the Pacific in Stockton to lift Sacred Heart Prep (24-6) to its fifth consecutive regional championship.
Miramonte (24-7) lost to the Gators for the third time in the Division 1 regional finals, including 2021 and 2023.
Gamble, who had four goals, also tied the score at 8-8 in the third quarter and delivered again to help Sacred Heart Prep pull even at 10-10 with 48 seconds left.
Clay Carrington contributed three goals and Oliver Marcin scored twice for Sacred Heart Prep, which achieved its only lead of the match thanks to Gamble’s late heroics.
Murdoch Baker-Matsuoka recorded five saves for Sacred Heart Prep, which defeated Miramonte for the third time this season.
Tristan Tucker and Mason Tunney both had three goals for Miramonte, which suffered a 10-9 setback Oct. 18 against Sacred Heart Prep.
Zavi Ryder made three saves for the Matadors.
Northern California Division 2: Redwood 13, Clovis 9
The Giants (27-6) overcame an early 4-1 deficit by scoring the final five goals of the first half, contributing to a run of eight unanswered scores that carried over to the third quarter to capture the first Division 2 regional title since 2021 at University of the Pacific.
Isaac Nikfar had four goals, with Jakob Engberg adding three goals, in addition to Charlie Poser and Storm Jackson both scoring twice for Redwood.
Owen Malone recorded 14 saves for Redwood, which handed Clovis a second consecutive loss in the Division 2 regional final, after the Cougars captured the Division 3 regional championship in 2023.
Kannon Klement had four goals and Trey Alexander achieved 11 saves for Clovis (24-10), which suffered a 12-6 setback to Menlo School in last year’s Division 2 regional final.
Northern California Division 3: Archbishop Mitty 11, Clovis East 7
The Monarchs (20-10) won their first Division 3 regional title at University of the Pacific in a showdown of programs both making their finals debut.
Chase Zanghi, Tucker Gavin and Zayn Latif led the offense for Archbishop Mitty, which relied on senior Gordon Vernooy to anchor its defense against Clovis East (21-15).
The Monarchs concluded their season with five consecutive victories, snapping a streak of six straight wins by Clovis East.