Prep notes: Top section boys water polo teams headline Clovis Championships

The top four boys water polo teams in the Central Section from last season will all be in action at this weekend’s Clovis Championships – just not against each other.

The 13-team, round-robin tournament is set up so defending Division I champion Clovis High, runner-up Clovis North and semifinalists Buchanan and Clovis West do not meet head-to-head. Each team will play four games and the team (or teams) with the best record will be named champion of a tournament that starts Friday and continues Saturday at Clovis and Clovis West’s pools.

The Clovis Unified rivals already meet twice in Tri-River Athletic Conference play, often cross paths at out-of-town tournaments such as the John Schmitt Memorial they all played in last weekend and inevitably clash in the postseason.

“In the past we have,” Buchanan co-coach Nic Maes said of the Clovis schools playing each other at the Clovis Championships. “But when you play 30 games in a season and five or six end up being against the local team, that’s not ideal.”

The four teams all played in the Schmitt Memorial last weekend in Mountain View, with Buchanan earning the best finish at fifth. Clovis was sixth, Clovis West 10th and Clovis North, which was missing three starters, finished outside the top 10.

Buchanan, which had won consecutive D-I titles until getting upset in the semifinals by Clovis North last season, returns five starters, including All-American Cole Heimerdinger, first-team All-TRAC selections Kyle McKenney, Robert Phillips and Thomas Vandiver, as well as Yousef Araim.

The Bears also have three freshmen who are making major contributions: starters Gabe Putnam, a member of the U.S. Under 14 national team, and Kaleb Archer, as well as Zach Zetz. Only two players in the history of the school – Zach Greenwood and Joey Brewer, both two-time All-Americans who played collegiately – have made the varsity as freshmen.

Clovis is led key returners Zach Koch and Jesse Serpa. Clovis West’s big guns include Henry Hong, Jacob Roberts and Preston Mayer, while Clovis North has players to watch in Jacob Fairchild and Cooper Engleman, as well as a new coach in Andrew Wilson.

The tournament also features Clovis East, Golden West, Mt. Whitney and Redwood from the section, and schools from both Northern California (Santa Cruz, Soquel, Granite Bay, Monte Vista-Danville) and Southern California (Capistrano Valley-Mission Viejo).

Sierra Pacific’s Cabral earns Cal-Hi honors

Sierra Pacific senior linebacker/defensive end Hunter Cabral was named Northern California’s Defensive Player of the Week after registering a state single-game record 10 sacks in the Bears’ 41-14 victory over Riverdale last week.

The 6-foot-1, 215-pounder, who had 22.5 sacks last season, broke the previous record of 8.5 set two years ago by Clayton Hanley of Santa Ynez.

This story was originally published September 16, 2015 at 5:07 PM with the headline "Prep notes: Top section boys water polo teams headline Clovis Championships."