Sea Kings steal league title

Corona del Mar’s aggressive defense sets the tone in convincing victory over Laguna Beach.NEWPORT BEACH -- The Corona del Mar High boys’ water polo team’s defensive game plan worked early and often in Thursday’s game against Pacific Coast League rival Laguna Beach.

The Sea Kings made nine steals and converted most of them into goals in the first half before coasting to a 13-5 league title-clinching victory at Corona del Mar High.

“The way we play now is set up for us to be in position to interfere and get a hand on the ball on defense,” Corona del Mar Coach Barry O’Dea said. “If we don’t get the steal, to at least interfere with what they are doing on offense.”

Getting steals was not a problem in the first half for the Sea Kings, who finished the game with 14. Steals by Jacob Murphy and Kyle Hersh led to man-advantage goals in the first quarter.

The Sea Kings outscored the Breakers, 7-1, in the second quarter. Murphy netted three first-half goals and finished with a game-high five. Tom Money (four goals) and Tyler Kent added two first-half goals each.

A steal by Hersh led to a goal from point-blank range by Murphy midway through the second quarter, then a goal by Kent from the perimeter gave the Sea Kings a 6-2 lead.

Goals by Murphy from the two-meter set position, Hersh on a counterattack and Ryan Hultman on a power play gave the Sea Kings a commanding 9-2 lead at halftime.

The Breakers, ranked No. 9 in CIF Southern Section’s Division I, took 12 shots in the first half, but most were of the low-percentage variety.

“We’ve changed the way we’re doing things on defense,” assistant coach Andy Coffman said. “Our objective is not just to stop them, but to try to get something out of it. We placed a lot of emphasis on that in practice lately, and we were able to work on different defensive things the last few games, because they weren’t the most competitive games. I think those last three games prepared us for today.”

Over the last three games, Corona del Mar (11-10 overall, 4-0 in league) defeated Sonora, University and Capistrano Valley by a combined score of 40-18. The Sea Kings have won four in a row.

Corona del Mar was 6 of 9 on the power play against Laguna Beach (2-1 in league), converting on all four of its opportunities in the first half.

“We’ve worked a lot on it lately because we watched film and noticed that was a weakness of ours,” O’Dea said. “We focused on that this week.”

Capturing the league title might come as a surprise to some after the Sea Kings went 4-6 in their first 10 games.

“A lot of people said on various websites that we’d finish third in league, that we’d lose to Northwood (a 10-7 win), and that we’d lose to Laguna Beach,” O’Dea said. “I posted those things in our locker room and I think it fed us. We’ve been hungry for this since training camp.”

Corona del Mar, ranked No. 6 in Division I, plays in the TruWest Memorial Cup Invitational in San Jose Friday and Saturday. The tournament includes such powerhouses as Long Beach Wilson, Newport Harbor and Harvard-Westlake.

“I’m really looking forward to Northern California this weekend,” Coffman said. “That should be a real measuring stick to see where we are before we go into the playoffs.”

Pacific Coast League

Corona del Mar 13, Laguna Beach 5

Score by Quarters