Back Bay meeting in CIF final is first since 2000

Newport Harbor High girls’ water polo coach Bill Barnett has never coached his girls against Back Bay rival Corona del Mar with a CIF title on the line.

But, Barnett said, he knows what to expect for tonight’s CIF Southern Section Division I championship game at Irvine High.

“It’s always been a barn-burner,” Barnett said. “Just like North Carolina and Duke, Cal and Stanford, UCLA and USC.”

The longtime Newport Harbor coach would know. His boys’ teams won 10 CIF titles from 1967 through 1984. Along the way, Newport Harbor faced CdM four times for the Division 4-A title from 1974 through 1987. The teams also met in 1969, before divisions were established.

Of the five meetings, the Sea Kings won four, but Newport Harbor won the 1984 game, 14-9.

The only other sport in which the Back Bay rivals have met in CIF title contest is volleyball. In girls’ volleyball, Corona del Mar won the 4-A title in 1977, but Newport Harbor — coached by current UC Irvine Coach Charlie Brande — beat CdM in 1979.

Corona del Mar beat Newport Harbor twice in the 1993 playoffs, once in the Division I section final and again to win the Division I state title.

In boys’ volleyball, the Dan Glenn-coached Newport Harbor team defeated CdM to win the 1999 Division I title, but the Sea Kings got revenge in 2000 when the Steve Conti-coached squad beat Newport Harbor in five games.

In all, Corona del Mar enjoys a 9-3 advantage when the Back Bay rivals have met with either a CIF division or state title on the line.

— Matt Szabo