SECONDS, ANYONE?
Chaparral rolls into CIF State Division III regional final after winning CIF-SS Division 5 title
WALNUT >> Moments after his team captured the CIF Southern Section’s Division 5 championship last weekend, Chaparral girls water polo coach Josh Stone told his players to be prepared for practice Monday.
“They didn’t know the coaches were being serious,” Stone recalled. “They thought it was a joke and laughed that off at first because there was no school Monday (Presidents’ Day).”
The Pumas had fun winning the program’s first title, so why not try to bring home a second one?
Aidan Mante scored a match-high six goals, whole Holly Handler keyed the defensive effort with 14 saves inside the cage as Chaparral rolled to an 18-6 victory over Birmingham in a CIF State Division III regional semifinal match Friday afternoon at Mt. San Antonio College.
The No. 2-seeded Pumas face top-seeded Mt. Carmel for the regional title today at 11 a.m. at Mt. SAC.
“I’m excited we’ve gotten this far. Any games left are a great opportunity,” Mante said.
Avary Guge, the team’s primary center defender, said she and her teammates had no problem rediscovering a championship mindset following the program’s historic victory last Saturday.
“For us, motivation is easy because no team at our school has gone this far,” Guge said.
It showed Friday afternoon, as Chaparral (25-5) scored on its first four possessions to grab the early advantage. Mante and Ariah Martinez each scored twice in that opening run.
Birmingham, the L.A. City Section Open Division runner-up, runs its offense through center Jocelyn Cruz. Stone decided
to let Guge and Audrey Benedict play Cruz straight up Friday instead of dropping into a zone defense.
“The heart and soul of our team has been the ability to press at every spot,” Stone said. “We ask Avary to do a lot as a 2-meter defender and she always leaves the pool exhausted.”
Martinez led Birmingham with three goals Friday, but those came on a total of 15 shots.
“I just try not to get too into my head,” Guge said about guarding elite centers. “When the season began, I’d get frustrated when a goal was scored. I just have to keep on working.”
Guge picked up a second exclusion in the second period, but Benedict stepped right in.
“Audrey is the 2-meter defender on our JV team, and she did very well today,” Stone said.
Chaparral used its counterattack and movement to take a 9-2 lead at the halftime break.
Martinez also picked up a pair of exclusions in the opening half but still finished with five goals, three assists and two steals. Julia Neal and Natalia Ferrette had three goals apiece for the Pumas. Mante tallied team-high four steals and Bryn Ankeny had three more.
Handler stopped a 5-meter penalty in the first quarter and had six saves in the second period.