High school water polo: Buchanan, Memorial and Sierra win Central Section titles
It was a dominant outing for the Buchanan High boys water polo team.
That certainly wasn’t a surprise for Bears coach Nic Maes.
Buchanan got out to a fast start and rolled to a 13-5 victory over San Luis Obispo Saturday night at Fresno State.
“Our big focus in the postseason has been defense,” Maes said. “We were four or five goals against us in the playoffs and that’s been a huge thing for us. If we’re playing for each other, we’re playing as a team. We’re playing unselfish and we’re going to have great performances.”
Luke Kneeland, Carson Crocket and Derek Smith each had three goals apiece to lead the Bears.
Buchanan jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the first quarter and shutout the Tigers in the second quarter.
It’s the Bears’ first section title since 2019 when they had reeled off four straight section titles prior to that season.
It was finally a relief for Maes and his team.
“We’ve been kind of been a sleeping giant all year,” he said. “I feel like we’ve been capable of this and just getting them to the point as a team and as a group to where we really understand how good we can be.”
Boys D-III: San Joaquin Memorial tops Tulare Western
In his first year as the San Joaquin Memorial boys coach, Nathan Olson led the Panthers to a section title.
Olson was so confident that he never felt nervous going into the final against Tulare Western.
Memorial outscored the Mustangs 7-2 in the third quarter to pull away for a 17-13 victory.
“We felt like we had a good plan,” said Olson, who previously coached at Lemoore. “Just confident in the boys. All I got to do is sit back there and manage. It’s a relief when they execute and I love it when they do that for me at any point.”
Leading the way for the Panthers in their first section title in school history since 2012 (in D-II) was Landon Mauge who recorded seven goals.
Luke Young added five goals for Memorial. Also scoring for the Panthers were Mario Heredia with three and Tanner Lee and Caleb Rico each had a goal apiece.
“It was a combination effort,” Olson said. “We’ve got Gary Gleeson who’s been here for over a decade and keeps trying to retire. We won’t let him and I’m not going to let him now.”
Girls D-III: Sierra wins first section title
Sierra coach Jessica Young knew how much winning a section title would mean to her team.
She had to wait until sudden death to find out.
Juliana Thiele’s backhand shot into the net gave the Chieftains a 13-12 victory over Liberty-Bakersfield.
“Juliana has been known for doing backhands all year,” Young said. “She made it.”
And the first title in school history?
“We’re a school of less than 400 kids and competing against all these big schools ... we fight,” she said.
“Half my team are seniors. This is a great send-off for them.”
Scoring for Sierra were Thiele (5), Kali McQuoid (3), Lily Cardoza (3) and Anna Brockman (2).
Clovis East boys, Clovis and Tulare Western girls fall short
Clovis couldn’t get past Arroyo Grande in a 9-6 loss in D-I.
The Cougars couldn’t score goals in the second and fourth quarters that proved to be the difference in the game.
In other games, Clovis East lost to Garces 13-12 in sudden death in D-II and Tulare Western fell to Garces 11-8 in D-II.
