Prep water polo: Clovis, Clovis West girls in line for D-I final rematch
Defending champion Clovis West High begins its quest for a Central Section girls water polo championship repeat as an underdog – barely.
Clovis High, which lost to the Golden Eagles 7-6 in overtime on Nov. 4 to split the Tri-River Athletic Conference title, was awarded the top seed Saturday in Division I, while the Golden Eagles are No. 2.
The Cougars (26-5) earned a first-round bye into the quarterfinals, where they hope to get on track to avenge last year’s 5-4 loss to the Golden Eagles in the title game. Clovis West is 22-6 this season.
County/Metro Athletic Conference champ Sanger (22-6) was the No. 3 seed and will host No. 6 Buchanan (17-13) in the second round Nov. 14. A limited first-round slate Nov. 12 includes No. 8 Porterville hosting No. 9 Clovis East.
Other top seeds went to defending champ Garces (D-II) and Selma (D-III). The Bears are 20-7 and swept the Central Sequoia League behind the 1-2 scoring punch of junior Bianca Gonzalez and senior Aneesha Nagra. Through 24 matches, they have 96 and 78 goals, respectively, to account for nearly 60 percent of the team’s total (174).
On the boys side, TRAC champion Buchanan (22-6) is No. 1, with defending section champion Clovis (17-6) the second seed. Reigning D-II champ Golden West is the fourth seed in its first year at D-I.
Redwood is No. 1 in D-II and Garces in D-III, where Edison – off a 10-0 run in the CMAC for its first league championship – is the second seed.
Finals are scheduled for Nov. 21.
Central Section Water Polo Championships
GIRLS
Division I
Opening round, Nov. 12: No. 9 Clovis East at No. 8 Porterville. Byes: No. 1 Clovis, No. 2 Clovis West, No. 3 Sanger, No. 4 Clovis North, No. 5 Monache, No. 6 Buchanan, No. 7 Bullard
Quarterfinals, Nov. 14: Porterville/Clovis East winner at Clovis, Monache at Clovis North, Buchanan at Sanger, Bullard at Clovis West
Semifinals: Nov. 18
Final: Nov. 21
Division II
Opening round, Nov. 12: No. 10 Memorial at No. 7 Exeter, No. 9 Sunnyside at No. 8 Edison. Byes: No. 1 Garces, No. 2 Hanford, No. 3 El Diamante, No. 4 Golden West, No. 5 Tulare, No. 6 Madera
Quarterfinals, Nov. 14: Sunnyside/Edison winner at Garces, Memorial/Exeter at Hanford, Madera at El Diamante, Tulare at Golden West
Semifinals: Nov. 18
Final: Nov. 21
Division III
Opening round, Nov. 14: No. 5 Strathmore at No. 4 Mt. Whitney, No. 6 Kingsburg at No. 3 Reedley. Byes: No. 1 Selma, No. 2 Sierra Pacific
Semifinals, Nov. 18: Strathmore/Mt. Whitney at Selma, Reedley/Kingsburg at Sierra Pacific
Final: Nov. 21
BOYS
Division I
Opening round, Nov. 14: No. 5 Clovis North at No. 4 Golden West, No. 6 Bullard at No. 3 Clovis West, No. 7 Clovis East at No. 2 Clovis. Bye: No. 1 Buchanan
Semifinals, Nov. 18: Clovis North/Golden West winner at Buchanan, Clovis West/Bullard vs. Clovis East/Clovis
Final: Nov. 21
Division II
Opening round, Nov. 12: No. 9 Mt. Whitney at No. 8 Fresno, No. 11 Sunnyside at No. 6 SAnger, No. 10 Hoover at No. 7 Kingsburg. Byes: No. 1 Redwood, No. 2 El Diamante, No. 3 Porterville, No. 4 Lemoore, No. 5 Monache
Quarterfinals, Nov. 14: Mt. Whitney/Fresno at Redwood, Monache at Lemoore, Sunnyside/Sanger at Porterville, Hoover/Kingsburg at El Diamante
Semifinals: Nov. 18
Final: Nov. 21
Division III
Opening round, Nov. 12: No. 14 Sierra at No. 3 Exeter, No. 13 Bakersfield Christian at No. 4 Strathmore, No. 12 Madera South at No. 5 Hanford West, No. 11 Chowchilla at No. 6 Madera, No. 10 Reedley at No. 7 Tulare Western, No. 9 Sierra Pacific at No. 8 Dinuba. Byes: No. 1 Garces, No. 2 Edison
Quarterfinals, Nov. 14: Sierra Pacific/Dinuba winner at Garces, Reedley/Tulare Western at Edison, Hanford West/Madera South vs. Bakersfield Christian/Strathmore, Exeter/Sierra vs. Chowchilla/Madera
Semifinals: Nov. 18
Final: Nov. 21
This story was originally published November 7, 2015 at 6:04 PM with the headline "Prep water polo: Clovis, Clovis West girls in line for D-I final rematch."