Panthers Look For Encore
PHS girls water polo in Valley finals for 2nd straight year
The Porterville Panthers girls water polo team is looking to make a repeat of last year with a win in CIF Central Section Division 3 Championship game, where this year it go against the San Joaquin Memorial Panthers. The teams will play at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Panthers pool.
The Panthers have had to do some quick learning this year with quite a few new members being added from last year. And learn they did. The Panthers started on a rough foot with a loss to the Strathmore Spartans but quickly picked up steam.
With wins over the Bakersfield Drillers (19-4) and the Highland Scots (23-6), the Panthers did a lot of learning in the pool.
PHS coach Evan Thomas said “We started this season doing well enough. We had amazing practices where our kids learned so much and were having such a good time that they didn’t want to stop. I’m honestly a little sad this is gonna be out last game together as they’re really such a great group of student athletes. Once we started playing games we really got more experience and power behind our plays.”
The championships this year poses an interesting threat to the Panther repeat with Memorial holding a steady and similar kind of game plan PHS uses itself. PHS tends to lead well in the first and third quarters, playing more defensively in quarters two and four.
Memorial tends to be more defensive in the first and third quarters while making an offensive push in quarters two and four.
Thomas spoke more about his team’s outlook: “They’re so excited. The hype is real for these ladies and they have been talking about wanting to play hard and proud. I’m certainly proud of them; they’ve been working so hard putting it together this year. We’ve had our share of defeats this year don’t get me wrong, we’re not cocky. But each time they’ve lost in the pool, I watched these kids the very next practice working on what they did or didn’t do. We have some high hopes.”
Many top notch players have taken bigger roles for PHS. Thomas spoke about them. “I’m honestly so proud of all of them, everyone has their place in the team,” he said.
“Our score leader is Addy Merritt and she’s backed up by quite a few others like Emmele Moreno, Hannah Mccoy, to just name a few. Merritt has been doing really well and found such a sweet spot in the pool with us; she’s able to work it really well.
“Our defenders are outstanding with the likes of Aubrey Cardoza, Mackenzie Hyder, Emmelle, just to name a few. They’re great team players and even though some of them haven’t played for a lot of years, they’re still making massive improvements and have been all year.”
The team also consists of Kately Hixon, Amalie Entiman, Mary Strizic, Jayle Roberts, Cailin Moody, Abby Riley, Pearl Bravo, Channelle Milan, Victoria Moreno, Amelia Legveth, and Greenly Wilson.
“These girls are a tight team together,” Thomas said. “That means that if you don’t normally rack up points, that doesn’t mean you’re not a vital role in our game plan. Every single one of them has shown such growth.”