Both boys and girls Haybaler water polo teams had a strong
showing in the Tri-County Athletic League finals, which wrapped on
Saturday.
The girls team finished third, while the boys squad finished
fourth. But the solid performances were not enough to get either
team into the Central Coast Section playoffs.
Both boys and girls Haybaler water polo teams had a strong showing in the Tri-County Athletic League finals, which wrapped on Saturday.
The girls team finished third, while the boys squad finished fourth. But the solid performances were not enough to get either team into the Central Coast Section playoffs.
On Friday, the boys team pulled out a tough 11-9 win over Gilroy at Live Oak. At the end of the third quarter, Gilroy was up 6-5.
“They get my nomination for the most improved team,” said Hollister coach Tom Agan. “We made a couple adjustments offensively and defensively. But we didn’t really get it going until the third quarter. Once we made them, things started swinging back in our favor, but it was a slow swing.”
With 50 seconds left in the game, San Benito went up a man, and Agan called timeout to setup the play. The Balers scored with 21 seconds left to tie the game at 8-8. The Balers (11-17) were up 10-8 after the first three-minute overtime, and each team scored in the final frame.
“I am real proud of the guys,” Agan said. “I asked them to made the adjustment even though it was a little of a gamble. We went to a drop defense instead of going man up and pressing.”
In the Saturday morning game against No.1 Live Oak at Santa Catalina, the Balers kept the pressure up in the first half. San Benito was up 2-1 at the end of the first and then was down by just 5-3 at the half.
But the Balers were shutout in the second half as Live Oak cruised to an 11-3 win.
“Our guys were playing good polo,” Agan said. “We were playing a little over our heads. Sometimes you can play at a higher level for awhile, but we couldn’t sustain it. The guys played their hearts out to stay with Live Oak as long as they did.”
The Balers were down 7-3 at the end of the third before many of the subs came in.
“I felt at that point that the win was unattainable,” Agan said. “I was looking ahead to the last game. I don’t regret the decision.”
In that final game, San Benito was defeated 9-8 by Robert Louis Stevenson.
The Balers came within six inches of tying the game and sending it to overtime.
With 1:55 left in the third quarter, Stevenson held a 9-5 advantage. The Balers added a goal before the period ended.
And the Balers made it 9-7 with 6:18 left in the game and then got within one with 26 seconds left.
“I had one hand on an air horn so I could call timeout as soon as we got the ball back,” Agan said. “We didn’t get the ball back until there were eight seconds left. At that point the airhorn went off instantly.”
The Balers setup a play. Lucas Zepeda found Robert Shattuck on a cross pass. And Sean Russell tried to push the ball across the goal line, but it was too late. The ball tottered on the goal line as the buzzer went off.
“The guys have been slowly improving,” Agan said. “And this is the best polo they have played all season. Against Stevenson, I called them in and told them they were doing everything right and not to change anything. I haven’t been able to say that all season. They came real close to surprising a couple teams they had no business surprising.”
After losing a tough 8-7 game Thursday, the girls team came back and defeated Monterey 6-3 Saturday in overtime.
The Balers were down 3-2 before scoring a goal in the fourth quarter to tie it. San Benito was able to put in three goals during the two three-minute overtimes to win 6-3 and finish in third place. Goalie Erin Reed stopped several goals for the Balers.
