HIGH SCHOOLS:

Benjamin Franklin once said in this world there are only two things that are certain: death and taxes.

But the Corona del Mar High girls’ water polo team might want to think about adding a third certainty — a successful trip to the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions.

Coach Aaron Chaney’s girls won the prestigious 16-team tournament for the second time in three years Saturday, beating Back Bay rival Newport Harbor, 6-5, in overtime in the championship game.

And, even last year when they finished third, the Sea Kings came out of Santa Barbara with momentum after pushing eventual champion Foothill to overtime in the semifinals.

Chaney, who helped UC Santa Barbara to its only men’s water polo NCAA championship in 1979, is familiar enough with the area. But this year’s CdM team isn’t quite as familiar as the teams of the past two years. In 2006, it was senior center Camille Hewko and goalie Tumua Anae who dominated as CdM won the TOC title. Last year, it was a deep group of nine seniors who helped CdM to third place.

This year’s Sea Kings had just one returning starter in Heather Van Hiel, and only a couple other returners — goalie Kate Baldoni and Allison Peotter — received sporadic playing time last year. Yet, the young team proved its worth by topping Laguna Beach, Dos Pueblos and Newport Harbor, three teams that were all seeded higher.

CdM, which set an initial goal of just finishing top eight in Santa Barbara, modified it all weekend long on the way to the championship.

“I mean, come on, I basically have one girl returning from last year,” Chaney said. “I think it’s great for them. It gives them a lot of confidence, and it should give them a lot of confidence.”

Van Hiel said she was also impressed with the team’s progress.

“We’ve come so far,” she said. “We graduated basically our whole team but a few players, and we’ve come so far. We play as a team more. We know each other more as a team.”

 The Sea Kings were only allowed two all-tournament team selections: Baldoni (the MVP) and Van Hiel. But several other players stepped up at different moments, whether it was Allison Peotter’s two clutch goals against Laguna Beach or Victoria Kennedy’s three goals against Newport Harbor.

Junior Elise Molnar also shined as a two-meter defender. Molnar had to guard two standout two-meter players in CIF in the first two games, in Montebello senior Sarah Orozco and Laguna Beach junior Annika Dries. But she helped hold the two players to just two combined goals.

“She’s got strong legs, and she’s real patient, too,” Chaney said. “She’s real composed.”

In fact, Molnar said her strong legs are an inside joke on the CdM team.

“I’ve had a lot of weird nicknames,” said Molnar, who scored three goals in the tournament — including the six-on-five game-winner against Newport Harbor — and was excluded just three times. “Last year, my CIF nickname was ‘Strong Legs McGee.’ And then, when we do medicine balls, there are different size medicine balls. I have a medicine ball the size of a small child.”

 Newport Harbor was left to wonder after losing a 5-2 halftime lead to the Sea Kings in the Tournament of Champions title game. The Sailors also nearly lost a 6-1 fourth-quarter lead against Foothill in the semifinals.

“We stopped playing 100% too early,” sophomore Kaleigh Gilchrist said. “We were worried about defense and the score too much.”

The Sailors, who have developed a reputation as a team that finishes strong, ultimately weren’t able to do it on Saturday. It’s a fact that didn’t slip by senior Mimi Bury.

“It’s so weird,” Bury said. “Last tournament [the Holiday Cup] we definitely played better in the second half, and this tournament we played better in the first half.”

Newport Harbor, which has never won the TOC in its nine-year existence, has finished in second place for five of the past six years.

The Sailors will need to rebound fairly quickly. They play Los Alamitos on Wednesday night at 7 at Newport Harbor High, a game that may well decide the Sunset League champion.

MATT SZABO is a staff writer. He can be reached at (714) 966-4614 or [email protected].