Champions: Warriors win San Diego Open novice water polo tournament

Fallbrook High School’s novice boys water polo team won the Oct. 10-11 San Diego Open Novice Tournament.

The Warriors won all six of their games including a 14-3 victory over Carlsbad in the finals.

“Very impressive for our boys to do that,” said Fallbrook novice coach Sean Redmond. “It bodes well for them.”

Fallbrook opened the tournament Oct. 10 with a match against Santana at Santana. The Warriors trailed 2-0 at halftime and 3-2 after three quarters but tied the game in the first minute of the fourth quarter before taking a lead they never relinquished. Fallbrook won the game by a 6-5 score.

“It kind of showed some grit on their part,” Redmond said.

The Warriors remained at Santana High School for a second Oct. 10 contest in which Fallbrook defeated Torrey Pines in sudden-death overtime. “It went back and forth,” Redmond said.

The Warriors had a 2-1 lead after the first quarter and a 4-2 halftime advantage. The third quarter was scoreless, but the Falcons tied the game in the fourth quarter and the score was 6-6 when the two-minute golden goal overtime period began. With 21 seconds remaining in the overtime frame, Chase Norfolk scored to give Fallbrook a 7-6 victory.

“It goes to show the toughness they have. We’ve been kind of nomads for the last six weeks,” Redmond said.

A pump at the Fallbrook High School pool broke the morning of Sept. 2, so the Warriors have not practiced at their home facility since then. The program was initially able to practice in the Boys and Girls Club pool for approximately three hours a week, but that time covered the varsity, junior varsity, and novice squads. On Sept. 22, an agreement was reached for the Fallbrook program to practice in the 13 Area pool on Camp Pendleton; the base pool is available for afternoon practices approximately 2 1/2 hours each day.

Fallbrook’s four Saturday tournament games were played at Valhalla High School. The first of those matches was a 14-7 victory over Valhalla. The Warriors led 6-4 at halftime and 8-5 after three periods. “We were able to wear them down,” Redmond said. “Our boys kept doing what they were doing and played their game.”

The Warriors then took a 12-7 victory over Cathedral Catholic. Fallbrook had a 4-0 lead after the first period. “We definitely were outgunning them,” Redmond said, adding that the boys were also playing together as a team.

Fallbrook’s third Saturday contest was a 19-10 triumph against Granite Hills. “The score wouldn’t show it, but it was close in the first half,” Redmond said. “We were able to hold them off.”

The win over the Eagles put the Warriors into the finals against Carlsbad. “That one was really a fun game to coach,” Redmond said of the championship game.

Carlsbad’s varsity team won last year’s CIF Division I championship, which was the Lancers’ ninth CIF title in 11 years, but the Warriors were not intimidated by their opponents’ storied history. “When you play your game and play up to the level you’re capable of doing, anything can and usually does happen,” Redmond said.

Fallbrook’s junior varsity team includes some ninth graders who were eligible to play in the novice tournament, and Redmond took advantage of those additions. The Warriors had 13 players for the Oct. 10 matches and 11 players for the Oct. 11 games.

Because not all of Fallbrook’s varsity opponents have novice squads, the Warrior novice team has played fewer games than the varsity players have. The tournament results improved the novice team’s record to 7-2 for the season.