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While it appears there is little or no drama in the Central Coast Section water polo playoffs with all the favorites moving closer to the finals, six local water polo teams might argue with that premise as they head into semifinals this week -- despite the fact that five are favored to advance to Saturday's championship matches at Santa Clara University.

The only bubble team is the Menlo-Atherton boys (15-11), who will be a slight underdog when they take on defending CCS champ St. Francis (13-15) on Tuesday in a Division I semifinal at Lynbrook High.

The No. 2-seeded Lancers beat the No. 3-seeded Bears in last season's championship match and, despite their uncharacteric losing record, are likely favored to end M-A's season again. Both teams are coming off solid quarterfinal triumphs -- the Bears eliminated No. 6 Gunn, 12-4, while the Lancers bounced No. 7 Los Gatos, 13-6, both at St. Francis on Saturday.

In the other semifinal on Tuesday at Lynbrook No. 1 Bellarmine (18-7) will take on No. 4 Los Altos (20-4) at 7 p.m.

Seven Bears found the net against Gunn (19-7), led by senior Andrew Higgitt's three scores. Graham McClelland and team captain Eric Wright each had two goals and an assist for the victors.

Sophomore goalie Alex Gow turned aside 12 Gunn attempts. The Titans were led by senior Alex Berenfeld's two goals and senior goalie Spencer Jones prevented an even larger margin of victory by M-A with some solid saves.

While Menlo-Atherton perhaps faces the toughest semifinal, the Sacred Heart Prep and Menlo boys are favored to win and meet each other once again for the CCS title. The Gators will be shooting for a third straight section crown.

Top-ranked and defending champion Sacred Heart Prep (22-5) will take on No. 4 St. Ignatius (11-13) on Tuesday in a Division II semifinal at Monta Vista High in Cupertino at 5:30 p.m. The Gators handily defeated SI during the West Catholic Athletic League season.

SHP earned that rematch with a comfortable 13-5 quarterfinal victory over No. 8 seed Live Oak (12-9) on Saturday in the Gators' pool. SHP got five goals from senior David Culpan to lead the way, as the Gators grabbed an 8-0 first-quarter lead and held an 11-0 advantage after three periods.

Second-ranked Menlo (21-6) will take on No. 3 Soquel (17-6) in the other Division II semifinal at Monta Vista at 7 p.m. The Knights defeated Soquel during the regular season, as well.

Menlo played up to its seeding and easily swamped No. 7 Willow Glen, 12-2, in the quarterfinals on Saturday at Sacred Heart Prep. The Knights grabbed a 3-0 lead after one quarter and held an 8-0 halftime advantage. Junior John Holland-McCowan scored three goals while senior Luke Carrino added two, as did junior Jack Finch. Menlo is playing without starting goalie Keegan Williams, who has been sidelined with an injury. Sophomore Connor Dillon and junior Jacob Dorn have been sharing goalie duties while Williams has been out.

In the girls' CCS water polo tournament, top-seeded Menlo-Atherton (26-1) is favored to reach the Division I finals while in Division II is appears that No. 1 Sacred Heart Prep (20-8) and No. 2 Castilleja (18-9) are on a collision course there.

The Bears will take on No. 5 Los Altos (23-5) on Wednesday in a Division I semifinal at Lynbrook High (San Jose) at 7 p.m.

Menlo-Atherton played what essentially was a league game on Saturday in the quarterfinals, toppling PAL Bay Division foe Aragon, 12-5, at St. Francis. The Bears won easily despite the fact leading scorer Becca Dorst did not play due to flu-like symptons. Dorst recently was named the PAL Player of the Year.

In her place, senior Sarah Winters and junior MJ O'Neill stepped up with three goals each while junior Emily Dorst turned away nine shots by the Dons. Eight different Bears scored, which has been their trademark this season.

Also in the division, both Palo Alto and Gunn saw their seasons end on Saturday. The Vikings (17-12) lost to St. Francis, 10-2, while the titans (13-8) dropped a 7-4 decision to Leland.

In Division II, Sacred Heart Prep will face No. 4 Mitty (17-6) in a semifinal match Wednesday at Monta Vista at 5:30 p.m. The Gators defeated the Monarchs during the WCAL regular season and are favored to do so again. In the other semifinal match Wednesday at Monta Vista, Castilleja will take on No. 3 St. Ignatius (13-11) at 7 p.m. The Gators defeated the Wildcats the last time the teams met.

Sacred Heart Prep advanced with an 11-3 quarterfinal victory over No. 8 Menlo (9-20) on Saturday in the Gators' pool. Heather Smith led the way with four goals while fellow senior Catherine Donahoe had 11 saves in goal. Hailey Smith scored all three Menlo goals while goalie Layla Allman had nine saves and four steals.

Castilleja, which is hoping to win its first-ever CCS title on Saturday, took a step closer to that goal with a 14-10 win over No. 7 Live Oak (19-5) in the quarterfinals. Junior Natasha von Kaeppler led the Gators with six goals while junior Barbara Peterson added three.

-- Keith Peters