Sailors shoot for CIF Div. I crown

The Newport Harbor High girls’ water polo team enters its third consecutive CIF Southern Section Division I championship game tonight when it meets Montebello at Belmont Plaza Pool in Long Beach at 8:15.

Sea View League champion Newport Harbor (26-4), the No. 1 seed in the division, defeated Long Beach Poly, 18-3, in the first round, handled Capistrano Valley, 21-7, in the quarterfinals, and topped No. 4-seeded Santa Margarita, 7-3, in the semifinals to reach the championship game.

No. 3-seeded Montebello (24-6), the Almont League champion, defeated Huntington Beach, 17-4, in the first round, Long Beach Millikan, 18-8, in the quarterfinals and defending Division I champion Foothill, 8-7, in the semifinals to reach the title game.

Coach Kenny Clements’ Oilers upset Foothill in dramatic fashion on a goal by Daisy Carrillo from mid pool with 3.6 seconds left in the game.

Tonight marks Montebello’s first CIF championship-game appearance. Newport Harbor beat Montebello in the semifinals last year, 12-8.

The Sailors, led by high-scoring senior two-meter star Kally Lucas and senior Leah Robertson, are 2-0 against Montebello this year. The Tars recorded a 10-7 win in the third-place game of the Irvine Southern California Tournament Jan. 5 and a 6-4 victory in a Feb. 4 nonleague clash.

The USC-bound Lucas netted nine goals in the two games and Robertson, who will continue her water polo career at the University of Michigan, tallied five goals, eight steals and five assists in the two contests.

The Oilers, who like to score off the drive, are led by Grace Quintana, Priscilla Orozco and Carrillo.

Newport Harbor, making its third consecutive CIF title-game appearance, beat Foothill, 10-8, in the 2004 final, and lost to Foothill, 8-4, last year.

Newport Harbor won its first CIF title in 1999.

After a long season of hard work, the Sailors believe this is their year to win the school’s third CIF crown.

“We want it so bad,” said Newport Harbor goalkeeper Elizabeth Layton, who made 12 saves in the team’s 7-3 semifinal victory over Santa Margarita. “It has’s been my dream for four years of high school. I’m ready to win the title.”

Newport Harbor, which boasts a senior-laden starting lineup, believes that the discipline instilled in them by veteran coach Bill Barnett, combined with the team’s cohesiveness, will amount to a third Southern Section championship.