Gunn boys Gunn boys (November 09, 2005)hoping for a hairy finish

by Keith Peters

You'll have to excuse Gunn High boys' water polo coach Mark Hernandez for looking like he's lost his electric shaver. There's a reason for his hairy situation.

Three weeks ago, Hernandez shaved and his team lost to Hollister.

"At that point, I knew that we would have to win at least six of our next seven games to win our league championship and get a berth into CCS," Hernandez said. "So, I stopped shaving. Since then, we've gone 7-0. So, the beard stays."

At least through Nov. 19. That's when Gunn hopes to play for the CCS Division I title at Independence High in San Jose.

That's the goal of nine local teams that received CCS playoff berths on Sunday and begin play this week.

In the girls' tournament, Sacred Heart Prep (28-1) received the No. 1 seed, opened Tuesday at home against No. 16 Pioneer (15-12) and is favored to reach the finals. Menlo (24-4) is No. 2 and begins its title defense on Wednesday against visiting No. 15 Santa Cruz (18-11) at 3 p.m. Menlo-Atherton (23-8) is seeded No. 5 and will host No. 12 Aragon (12-9) on Wednesday at 6 p.m. Seventh-seeded Palo Alto (21-9) played No. 10 Santa Catalina (21-5) on Tuesday night at Stanford's Avery Aquatic Center.

In the boys' Division II tournament, top-seeded Menlo (29-3) opens Saturday against No. 8 Los Gatos (21-9) at Independence High at 10:40 a.m. Third-seeded Sacred Heart Prep (23-9) and No. 6 Palo Alto (18-14) meet Saturday at St. Francis at 9:20 a.m.

In the boys' Division I tourney, No. 4 Menlo-Atherton (20-10) opens Saturday at Independence at 9:20 a.m., with No. 6 Gunn (22-9) taking on No. 3 Serra (20-9) in the same pool at 1:20 p.m.

Hernandez hopes he won't be clean shaven Saturday night.

"I said I wouldn't shave again until we lost," he said.

The superstition held up last weekend as Gunn won three times to claim the SCVAL De Anza Division overall title. The Titans had finished second during the regular season, but they posted an 8-6 win over host Los Altos in the tournament finals on Saturday. Regular-season champ Palo Alto, meanwhile, finished fourth in the tournament to give Gunn its second straight league crown.

"As sweet as last year's league final was, I'm more proud of our boys for this league win," Hernandez said. "Last year signalled a breaking through, and this year was about coming together.

"I certainly don't need to talk about how valuable Arjan Ligtenberg was to us for his three years on the team: he was so dominant that when he didn't score, he made it easier for everyone else to score. He also led the team and kept everyone on course and in line. When he left (for USC), he left a vacuum impossible to fill."

As Gunn's season wore on, however, the players learned how to play together.

"There's no doubt that we're playing our best team polo of the year when the games mean the most," he said. "What makes me so proud of this group is that they've had to make major adjustments all year. We've had to change the way we play offense, the way we play defense, and the way we lead ourselves.

"The beginning of the year was certainly marked by some growing pains, but every setback has made us stronger and better. In that sense, our performance in the league tournament was a microcosm of our season. In both the semifinals and the finals, we finished the first quarter trailing 3-1. But in both games, the boys did not panic, and just stayed focused on executing on offense and playing smart defense."

Gunn rallied to beat Los Gatos in the semifinals, 10-8, and then Los Altos in the finals. Senior Kyle Gertridge scored on a backhand shot to put the Titans ahead for good, 7-6, with 2:32 to play. Gunn's defense took over from there, preventing the Spartans from getting off a shot.

"The boys never stopped believing in themselves, and put together two dramatic, impressive wins against two of the top teams in the section," Hernandez said.

Gunn's road to the CCS finals, however, is a tough one. Live Oak awaits in the semifinals and Bellarmine in the finals. That means Menlo-Atherton also could have a short stay. Should the Bears get by Leland, the defending champion Bells await.

"Our goal was to get to CCS," said M-A's first-year coach Johnny Bega. "We did that and now would like to go as far as we can."

The Bears were 7-22 last season and failed to reach the postseason. Under Bega, the team has turned it around despite falling to defending champion Menlo, 11-4, in Saturday's PAL Bay Division finals at Burlingame High.

For Menlo, the tourney title was just another step toward its season-long goal of playing its best water polo at the most important time. The Knights rolled over Carlmont in the semifinals, 18-2, as junior Ben Hohl tallied four goals. He added six against M-A and now holds the school's single-season record of 135, breaking his own mark of 131 set last season. Goalie Mike Merlone had 10 saves in the finale.

The Sacred Heart Prep boys, should they get by Paly in their opener, likely will face defending Division II champion St. Francis in a rematch of their WCAL semifinal match won by the Lancers, 4-3, in overtime.
Girls

Sacred Heart Prep, Menlo and Palo Alto all enter CCS play after winning their respective league tournament titles last weekend.

The top-seeded Gators continue to show why they have to be considered as heavy contenders for the section crown after easily disposing of St. Francis in the WCAL finals, 15-4, behind five goals from senior Christie Clark. The Gators' reliable counterattack also was evident in an 11-2 romp over Presentation in the semifinals as junior Adriana Vogt's three goals matched her total against the Lancers.

Menlo appears ready to defend its title after shutting down Menlo-Atherton for the second time in two weeks to win the PAL Bay Division tourney, 7-4. Six players scored for the Knights with Ashley McPhaul's two goals leading the way. Sophomore goalie Elise Ponce had nine saves, blanking the Bears in the second and fourth quarters after M-A had taken a 2-0 first-quarter lead.

Palo Alto defended its De Anza Division crown with a 6-1 win over Los Altos. Junior Tanya Wilcox and senior Phoebe Champion both scored two goals after combining for seven in a 15-3 semifinal win over Mountain View.

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