Centennial, Chaparral win regional openers

Kaia Boone scored the decisive goal with 2:34 remaining on the clock, and Jayda Perez field blocked a shot during the closing seconds as the Centennial girls water polo team outlasted Valhalla 9-8 in a CIF State Division II regional playoff opener Tuesday night in El Cajon.

Centennial (32-1) will take on San Clemente (228) in one Division II regional semifinal match Friday at 2 p.m. at Mt. San Antonio College.

Tuesday, the No. 7-seeded Huskies raced to an early lead behind a pair of goals by Catherine Jenkins and one more by Bailey Desmond.

Valhalla, the region’s No. 2 seed, answered back with four straight goals, taking the lead for the first time with 2:08 left in the opening half.

The teams combined for three goals in the final minute of the first half. Desmond tallied her second goal of the match to tie the score at 4 with 54 seconds on the clock. Valhalla regained the advantage when Avery Boone scored with five seconds remaining in the first half, but Centennial once again leveled the score when goalkeeper Clarysa “CJ” Sirls scored with two seconds remaining before the intermission.

Centennial got powerplay goals from Jenkins and Caroline Manley to take an 8-6 lead after three periods.

Boone and Alex Schow scored on back-to-back possessions to help Valhalla tie things at 8 with 3:49 remaining in the match.

Valhalla had a final opportunity to send the match to overtime after Centennial turned the ball over with seven seconds left on the clock, but Perez get her hand on the final attempt of the match to seal the victory for the Huskies.

Sirls had another strong performance inside the cage, finishing the match with 25 saves. She had 23 saves in Centennial’s 9-1 victory over Palos Verdes in the CIF Southern Section Division 3 championship match. Sirls has registered more than 500 saves this season.

Jenkins scored three goals for Centennial, two coming on 5-meter penalty shots. Desmond drew four ejections and also had three steals to go along with her two goals, and Manley also scored twice for the Huskies.

• Julia Neal and Ariah Martinez scored four goals apiece as No. 2-seeded Chaparral cruised to a 15-7 victory over visiting Granada Hills Charter in a Division III regional opener Tuesday evening.

The Pumas (24-5) face No. 6-seeded Birmingham (16-14) in one Division III regional semifinal Friday at noon at Mt. San Antonio College.

Chaparral led 12-1 at halftime, with Martinez scoring all of her goals before intermission. Aidan Mante and Avary Guge each scored twice for the Pumas, and Holly Handler led the defensive effort for the CIF Southern Section’s Division 5 champions with 13 saves.