Northwood to keep playing; Foothill, Newport and JSerra also off to water polo regionals

Northwood Coach Kyle Kim-E will lead his team into the regional tourney. (Photo Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone)

Northwood High’s boys water polo team will continue playing after all.

Coach Kyle Kim-E found out Sunday that the Timberwolves, who reached the semifinal round of the CIF Division 3 playoffs, have been invited to compete in the CIF Southern California Division II Regional playoffs Friday.

Northwood will meet Steele Canyon of Spring Valley at 6:40 p.m. at Ocean View. The single-elimination tournament wraps up Saturday.

“I was happily surprised when we were asked to compete in the State CIF regional championships,” Kim-E said.

“After Santa Barbara elected to not go, we were presented with an exciting opportunity to represent not only Northwood but also Southern California in the tournament. It is hard going from losing the semifinals to now practicing and playing for another week, but I believe that all of our players’ mindsets are on having fun.

“It was sad realizing that our season was over, especially for our seniors so to now have one final opportunity to play one to three more games together is a blessing. We’re going to try and do the best that we can.”

Northwood advanced to the CIF Division 3 semifinals, losing to eventual champion Santa Barbara 10-9 and at that time, Kim-E and his players thought the season was over. Santa Barbara went on to beat Schurr 9-7 in the finals.

Foothill, the CIF Division 2 champion, was also invited to compete in the Division 1 bracket and will meet CIF Division 1 runner-up Newport Harbor Friday at 7:50 p.m. at Segerstrom High. Huntington Beach is also in the Division 1 bracket and will face CIF Division 1 champion Harvard Westlake Friday at 4:20 p.m.

Division 4 champion JSerra is in the Division 2 bracket and will meet Schurr Friday night. CIF Division 5 champion Mission Viejo is in the Division 3 bracket and will face Rancho Mirage Friday night.

The tournament wraps up with semifinals and finals on Saturday. There is no state tournament involving Southern California vs. Northern California.

-Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com