Girls’ Water Polo: Sailors fall to Foothill

IRVINE — Newport Harbor High girls’ water polo Coach Bill Barnett, slumped down over his walker, was asked Wednesday evening how he felt.

In a 49-year coaching career at Newport Harbor, Barnett was never known for his long answers. This time, the 72-year-old needed just one word.

“Tired,” he said.

On the seventh day after his most recent hip surgery, Barnett will get to rest.

The Sailors’ season and his remarkable coaching career are both over after a 5-3 loss to Foothill in a CIF Southern Section Division 1 semifinal match at Woollett Aquatics Center.

Barnett, who won 15 CIF titles at Newport Harbor, briefly addressed his team on the deck after the loss. Then his players gave him a round of applause, before each coming up and giving him a hug.

In terms of the game, Barnett, who was released from the hospital on Monday afternoon and returned to practice on Tuesday, said he was happy with the way the Sailors (23-7) played. They certainly started better than any of the three previous times playing Foothill, also all losses.

Newport Harbor took a 2-0 lead in the opening quarter. Ellie Reid scored a lob goal on captain Kate Pipkin’s assist, then Isabelle Leveque scored bar-down from the outside with 3:46 left in the quarter.

The fluid offense stopped there for the No. 3-seeded Sailors, as No. 2 Foothill (26-4) ramped up its press defense. The Sailors went nearly 22 minutes without a goal, until senior center Chanel Schilling scored on Reid’s assist with 2:56 left in the fourth quarter.

By then, the Sailors were down 4-2 as Foothill got goals from Michigan-bound senior Julia Sellers, senior Emily Konishi and freshmen Valerie Ayala and Noelle Wijnbelt.

“We couldn’t sustain the offense,” Barnett said. “I don’t know what it was. Every time we played them, our offense was not like it should be. You’ve got to give their defense credit, too.”

Schilling continued her strong recent play with three exclusions drawn, though Newport Harbor went scoreless in five chances with the extra player. Still, her fourth-quarter strike brought Newport Harbor within a goal.

But Sellers put the game out of reach, after a long shot by Newport at the end of the shot clock was easily handled by Foothill goalie Kenzi Snyder (nine saves). Sellers scored an insurance goal on the counterattack with 1:47 left.

Sellers had two goals, two exclusions drawn and two steals for Foothill. Konishi also had a pair of steals for the Knights, who were one for five on the power play.

Newport senior goalie Carlee Kapana anchored the Sailors’ defense with 17 saves. Senior defender Rachel Whitelegge overcame early foul trouble to record three steals, while Pipkin had two steals and Reid and Katie Kearns each recorded one.

“Both teams have strong goalkeepers, and both teams play good defense,” Foothill Coach Jim Brumm said. “Every game we play with them has been low-scoring, a very defensive game. I think that was the M.O. going into this. Personally, I thought after the second quarter, we started maybe getting the tempo of the game that we wanted. We were getting down the pool a little quicker … and I thought they had that early in the game. I thought their counterattack was pretty sharp in the first quarter.”

Foothill, in the Division 1 title match for the first time since 2011, will face top-seeded Laguna Beach for title on Saturday. For Newport Harbor, Wednesday’s loss snapped a three-year streak of making it to the championship game.

But the actions on the pool deck after the loss somehow meant more, a sweet group of girls showing their appreciation to a sweet man who also happens to be a water polo legend.

“I was a little surprised seeing him [Tuesday at practice] because he got out Monday afternoon,” Whitelegge said. “I think it definitely helped us come out hard. I think we came out hard, but we kind of evened out. I think he was just proud watching us, what we could do, even not having him for a few days.

“It’s not easy having your coach go through surgery at such an important time [of the season]. I think he was just proud that we managed to keep going and keep pushing through.”