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The Sacred Heart Prep boys and girls took a step closer to defending their respective Central Coast Section water polo titles with solid victories in the quarterfinals on Saturday in Atherton. Menlo-Atherton also qualified both its teams to the semifinals.

The SHP boys moved into the Division II semifinals with an 18-0 blowout win over visiting Burlingame on Saturday morning. The top-seeded Gators (23-4) put the game away with a 9-0 first quarter. Six players scored two goals each for SHP while senior goalie Will Runkel had nine saves.

Sacred Heart Prep will face No. 4 Soquel (22-6) on Wednesday at Serra High (5:30 p.m.) in the semifinals.

The SHP girls, meanwhile pulled away to an early five-goal lead on their way to an 11-2 win over visiting Santa Catalina. The top-seeded Gators (19-8) were led by Morgan McCracken's three goals and two by P.J. Bigley, while junior goalie Kelly Moran came up with 14 saves.

The Gators will face No. 4 Castilleja on Tuesday at Gunn High in the semifinals at 7 p.m.

Also advancing to the Division I semifinals were the No. 3-seeded M-A boys (13-12), who got six goals from Harrison Holland-McCowan in a 12-4 win over No. 6 Leland at Sacred Heart Prep. The Bears will face No. 2 seed St. Francis (13-15) on Tuesday at Serra High in the semis at 7 p.m.

The No. 3 M-A girls (15-10) posted a 9-5 victory over No. 6 Los Gatos, also at SHP, and also moved on to the semifinals. The Bears were led by Jessica Heilman's four goals, along with scoring pairs by Sophia Caryotakis and Jenna Swartz, while Nicole Zanolli found the net in the second period. Goalie Sierra Sheeper recorded 12 saves in the win while Heilman added seven steals and two assists.

M-A will take on defending champ Leland (22-5) on Wednesday at Gunn High at 7 p.m.

Castilleja (12-13) will join the SHP and M-A teams in the semifinals after posting a 10-8 triumph over No. 5 Soquel at Christopher High in Gilroy. The Gators got three goals each from Stephanie Flamen and Sydney Molano in the Division II quarterfinal.

In other CCS action Saturday:

The Gunn girls saw their season end in a 10-8 loss to Mitty in the Division I quarterfinals at Christopher High in Gilroy. Senior Lauren Lesyna led the No. 5-seeded Titans (21-8) with three goals while junior Caroline Anderson added two. The No. 4-seeded Monarchs grabbed a 4-1 first-quarter lead and never trailed.

In boys' Division I action, No. 8 Palo Alto (19-9) dropped an 11-4 decision to No. 1 Bellarmine at Sacred Heart Prep.

2012 CCS WATER POLO PLAYOFFS
GIRLS
Division I
First round
San Benito 9, Palo Alto 8
Pioneer 8, Homestead 7
Los Gatos 9, Evergreen Valley 6
Gunn 21, Carlmont 3

Quarterfinals (Saturday)
Menlo-Atherton 9, Los Gatos 5
Leland 21, San Benito 5
Mitty 10, Gunn 8
St. Francis 15, Pioneer 1

Division II
First round
Soquel 11, Harker 4
San Lorenzo Valley 10, Aptos 9
Presentation 8, Monterey 4
Santa Catalina 7, Willow Glen 6

Quarterfinals (Saturday)
Presentation 11, Burlingame 8
St. Ignatius 16, San Lorenzo Valley 4
Castilleja 10, Soquel 8
Sacred Heart Prep 11, Santa Catalina 2

BOYS
Division I
First round
Lynbrook 15, Monta Vista 14
Mountain View 14, Pioneer 9
Leland 18, Carlmont 4
Palo Alto 14, Los Gatos 6

Quarterfinals (Saturday)
Menlo-Atherton 12, Leland 4
St. Francis 23, Lynbrook 8
Mountain View 10, Serra 9
Bellarmine 11, Palo Alto 4

Division II
First round
Burlingame 10, Willow Glen 9
Carmel 15, R.L. Stevenson 7
St. Ignatius 13, Santa Cruz 8
Valley Christian 15, Sobrato 2

Quarterfinals (Saturday)
Los Altos 9, Carmel 4
St. Ignatius 8, Menlo School 7
Soquel 11, Valley Christian 9
Sacred Heart Prep 18, Burlingame 0

— Palo Alto Online Sports

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