Portola boys water polo team takes some big steps forward

Attacker Noam Garibi has been one of Portola’s top players this season. (Photo courtesy Chris Bank).

Portola’s boys water polo team has made significant strides this season earning a top ranking in the CIF Division 4 poll.

The Bulldogs, coached by Kate Avery, are 12-3 overall and 2-3 in the Pacific Coast League entering the week. Portola has notched league wins over Woodbridge and Laguna Hills.

“It feels good to see how far we’ve come with this program, but we are still far from reaching our full potential as a team,” said Avery. “We still have a lot of work to do, but it’s good to know that the work we’ve put in has started to pay off.”

There have been a couple highlights so far, including last week’s 10-9 league win over Woodbridge.

“We were down at the half, after letting them score six uncontested goals in the second (quarter),” Avery said. “The guys really pulled it together and ended up shutting them out in the second half.

“Another highlight would be winning the Corona Varsity Tournament earlier this month. With the new division placements, we went into this tournament hoping to go at least 2-2. We learned a lot about how our defensive systems operate and were pleasantly surprised (very excited) about winning the tournament.”

Players who have been instrumental to the team’s success have been junior goalie Grant Kramer, sophomore, attacker Noam Garibi and junior utility player Liam McGuane, Avery said.

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