By Kevin Park
Staff Writer
Photos by Brian Kojima
The girls’ water polo team participated in the Bonita Tournament on Saturday, January 30 at Upland High School and finished with a record of 2-3 to add to their overall season record of 12-6.
The Tiger’s first match against Rio Mesa ended with a 11-8 victory over the Spartans. The girls were down 6-4 by halftime, but made a late run in the game to defeat Rio Mesa, and started the tournament on positive note.
South Pasadena faced off against the Bonita Bearcats in the second round. The Bearcats pounded the Tigers, putting up six goals in just the first quarter. Lazy defense and turnovers put the Tigers in a big hole. At the end of the first half, Bonita had a lead as big as 9-5 and the Tigers could not seem to find any breaks. The Bearcats controlled most of game after the first half and defeated the Tigers 15-10 in the second round of the tournament.
The third matchup of the Bonita tournament was against the Harvard Westlake Wolverines. Both teams matched up well and played extremely tight defense throughout the entire game. The Wolverines and the Tigers were at three apiece by halftime. In the third quarter, despite failing to control possession, the South Pas team took a 7-6 lead. Harvard Westlake, however, prevented any further offensive threats in the fourth and scored two goals in the final minutes to top the Tigers 8-7.
Three matchups into the tournament with two more to go, the Tigers had a record of 1-2. For the team’s fourth game, the Tigers matched up against Charter High School. Fatigued and worn out from the previous games, the Tigers lost once again 14-10 to Charter High School.
South Pas played its last match against Palos Verdes Sea Kings. The Tigers came out aggressive on offense in the first half, scoring 6 goals versus the Sea King’s 2 goals. The girls finished off Palos Verdes with four more goals in the second half, defeating the Sea Kings 10-8.
The girls hope to learn from this competition and execute in the next game against the Temple City Rams on Tuesday, February 2 at home.
