Ayala outlasts Ramona to advance in Division 5
Correspondent
CHINO HILLS >> Ayala’s boys water polo team is not used to being a favorite.
The Bulldogs finished fourth in the Palomares League, behind three schools that are in higher CIF Southern Section divisions, two of which (Alta Loma and Bonita) are seeded among the top four in their respective divisions.
But playing in the Division 5 playoffs, the Bulldogs are adjusting to their new role as a favorite.
Thursday, second-seeded Ayala jumped out to a fivegoal lead after a quarter and went on to defeat Ramona 13-5 in a second-round game at Ayala High School. The Bulldogs (17-13) will host Cate in the quarterfinals today.
“Obviously, there’s still a lot of improvements to be made,” Ayala coach Kevin Hammond said. “This is actually the first time in a few years we’ve actually won a CIF game. When we’re in league, we know we’re in a dogfight and understand how to manage the game. When we get into a game where we come out to a big lead like today, we haven’t learned how to manage that.”
The Bulldogs might not have built on the lead as quickly as Hammond wanted, but they weren’t really threatened either.
Ayala took a 6-1 lead after a quarter with a defense that allowed barely any shots, let alone scoring chances.
“That’s one of the things I talk to the team about, ‘if our goalie is bored, we’re playing good defense,’” Hammond said.
After taking that lead, the offense wasn’t consistently strong but the Rams never got closer than four goals the rest of the game.
Kane Wukelich led a balanced Ayala attack with three goals, while Evan
Chang, Jamie Park and Ben Trull added two goals apiece for the Bulldogs. Baron Gonzales was the lone Ramona player with two goals.
The teams also played in September, with Ayala winning 11-7.
Ramona coach Cindy Robinson said Thursday’s game was vastly different.
“We were not expecting this kind of physicality,” said Robinson, who is in her third year as Ramona’s head coach and fifth year in the program.
Robinson was frustrated by the way the game was called, as Ramona endured five ejections and one penalty shot against it in the first half before Ayala had their first.
“I never want to blame the officials,” she said. “We have to play no matter what. I don’t want to sound like sour grapes, because they were by far the better team. Clearly, they dominated. But it would’ve been nice to have had physicality evenly called.”
Ramona’s star player, senior Wendell Mcintosh, got three ejections in the game, when he usually gets closer to one, Robinson said.
Hammond said that the Bulldogs might have looked a little different to Robinson on Thursday because in the first matchup they were missing Trull for the whole game and Colin Mulqueen for most of the game.
“It was tighter defense,” Hammond said. “We focused on our defense, trying to create turnovers and limit the amount of passes they have on the perimeter.”
It was the end of a career for Mcintosh, who hopes to play next year in college, possibly at Chaffey. He said he learned a lot he can carry into college.
“Just never give up, really. It’s not about the loss or the win, it’s about how we play in the game.” said Mcintosh, who scored a goal Thursday.