HIGH SCHOOLS:

The Newport Harbor High boys’ water polo team became the first to hand state power Miramonte of Orinda its first loss of the season Saturday.

There are several reasons why the Sailors won the Memorial Cup Invitational, beating Miramonte, 13-12, in overtime, at Bellarmine College Preparatory in San Jose.

Being able to keep up offensively helped Newport Harbor (19-6), the defending CIF Southern Section Division I champion, end Miramonte’s winning streak at 22.

The overtime goals scored by Jack Yeager and Zach Osadche played major roles for Newport Harbor, which moved up three spots and is now ranked No. 3 in the CIF Southern Section Division I poll.

The match-tying goal by Zach Lucas late in regulation also helped make it possible.

But what’s left out is Newport Harbor Coach Jason Lynch’s familiarity with four players from Miramonte, the three-time defending CIF North Coast Section champion.

Lynch coached the four on a U.S. National cadet 16-and-under team two years ago.

“It helped,” Lynch said. “I knew what they were going to do. We tried to match up accordingly. We shut down one [player] entirely.”

Lynch is counting on the big wins in the elite tournament against Miramonte (22-1) in the finals and against Back Bay rival Corona del Mar (15-9) in the semifinals to propel the Sailors in the playoffs.

The Division I playoff pairings will be released Sunday at the CIF Southern Section office in Los Alamitos.

Newport Harbor closes out Sunset League play at home today against Marina at 7:20 p.m. With a win, the Sailors will finish in second place at 4-1 behind Los Alamitos.

The Sailors’ regular-season finale is a nonleague match against The Bishop’s of La Jolla on Saturday.

“I think we’re turning the corner here,” said Lynch after beating Miramonte, which had wins against Los Alamitos and El Toro, two teams that have defeated Newport Harbor this season and are ranked No. 1 and No. 2, respectively.

“We took the finals as a good opportunity to show we’re a strong team. There wasn’t a lot of pressure on us, more pressure on [Miramonte]. I’m just proud of the guys.”

Lynch said a mother of one of the Miramonte players he coached congratulated him on the victory.

This year, Sage Hill School finished in third place, instead of second as was the case the past two boys’ water polo seasons in the Orange Coast League.

Coach Tom Norton isn’t worried going into the CIF Southern Section Division III playoffs.

“We’re looking to get the school’s first playoff win in the sport,” said Norton, who’s in his third year at Sage Hill. “We’ll probably play one of the top three or four teams in our division. We haven’t played any of the Division III teams [except Laguna Beach and Costa Mesa] that will be in the playoffs.

“So whoever we play in the opening round, they’re not going to know who we are.”

The Lightning (13-9) are on a roll. They have won seven of their last eight matches.

During the stretch, Sage Hill is averaging 12.5 goals per match.

A big reason for the potent attack is the play of two-meter attacker Tucker Pettis. The senior leads the Lightning with 87 goals.

Among league players, Pettis’ goals rank only behind Costa Mesa’s senior twins, Cody and Dustin Serrano. Cody has 95 goal and Dustin 92.

The play of goalie Jake Blitzer has also been crucial to Sage Hill’s success. Last year, he was a driver.

“He’s stepped up after making the transition,” Norton said.

The Corona del Mar girls’ tennis team was perfect during the regular season, finishing 15-0 overall and 8-0 in the Pacific Coast League.

When asked whether he would’ve liked to have seen his team lose once before the start of the CIF Southern Section Division I playoffs, Coach Brian Ricker said no.

“Our toughest match was against Dana Hills,” said Ricker, whose Sea Kings pulled out an 11-7 home win against the then No. 1-ranked Dolphins on Oct. 15. “It was a significant victory, because we’ll most likely meet either Dana Hills or Palos Verdes in the finals, rather than in the semifinals.

“Our bonus is we’ll face the winner.”

The Lightning have a chance to win their first outright Academy League championship in girls’ volleyball Thursday.

Sage Hill (17-10, 9-0 in league) plays at rival St. Margaret’s (8-1 in league). The two schools shared the league crown in 2005.

“We’ve been looking forward to this all year,” said Coach Dan Thomassen, whose Lightning on Oct. 22 beat the Tartans, 25-21, 19-25, 21-25, 25-14, 15-12, for the first time at home in school history. “The boys won their first outright league title last year. We’ll see if we can do it, too.”

The Newport Harbor frosh-soph boys’ water polo team won the Gray Lunde Memorial Invitational. The Sailors beat rival Corona del Mar, 3-2, in the championship game.

Lunde was a Newport Harbor freshman water polo player who died in 1995 of a heart ailment at age 14. In remembrance, his coach, Les Cutler, led an effort to rename the tournament from the Halloween Invitational to the Gray Lunde Invitational.

DAVID CARRILLO PEÑALOZA may be reached at (714) 966-4612 or at [email protected].