Water Polo completes magnificent season with CIF title




In an absolutely stellar season in which it continually proved itself, the Valley Center High boys’ water polo team reached the summit on Saturday when it bested San Pasqual 12-6 in the title game of the Division II finals held at La Jolla High School.

With the historic win, the Jags captured their first ever CIF title and wiped away much of the sting and disappointment from last year when a very talented Jag squad just missed out on a championship run by losing a heartbreaker in the semifinals to San Marcos.

How good, consistent and clutch was Coach Kyle Kline’s current squad? Get a load of this checklist; posted a terrific 23-3 overall record, went undefeated in league, won the Highlander Invitational Tournament, placed a notable 2nd in the prestigious San Diego Open and then impressively wrapped up things with a convincing run through playoffs. It’s hard to imagine a more successful season than that unless absolute perfection is the only thing you seek.

Based on their tremendous regular season, the Jags were the No. 1 seed in the postseason and thereby were given a firstround bye. The Jags first took to the pool in quarterfinal action against Mater Dei on November 12 and quickly proved they were on a mission, racing to a 9-3 halftime margin, scoring six times in the third quarter while en route to a convincing 15-8 triumph.

Four days later, they met up with the No.4 Santana Sultans— with whom the Jags had split a pair of previous encounters earlier in the year. In a hotly contested semifinal match, VC held a 4-2 lead at the half and ignited by a 3-goal final quarter, the Jags went on to secure a well-earned 8-6 decision. In this pivotal contest, the standout was clearly Joe Schaner who was sensational while firing home 4 goals. Another scorer of import was Jacob Banner, his notable contribution being a pair of tallies.

As befitting such a well-balanced team, others lent considerable help as well. Jared Schaner and Jeremy Paiz each tallied a goal and chipped in with a brace of assists. And Jared Trok loomed large with his 3 assists and a pair each of blocks and steals. Moreover, goalie Mason Calbert more than held up his end with 7 big saves.

Now that the Jags had overcome that significant hurdle, it was onto the finals where league rival and No.6 seed San Pasqual awaited. With their confidence brimming and knowing that they had already beaten the Golden Eagles 13-10 just a month before, the Jags were primed to take it all and they didn’t disappoint. Jumping out to a key 4-1 lead after one quarter, VC was emboldened from there and went into the final period up 9-5. Then, VC demonstrated a vital killer instinct and efficiently closed the deal by outscoring SP 3 to 1 in the last quarter.

Jared Schaner continued his big-time play by scoring on all three of his shots as well as seizing 4 steals. Keeping the Schaner boys’ mojo working, Joe delivered in a huge way with 3 goals and 3 steals of his own. The dependable Banner was rock solid with a pair of goals and steals. The defensive specialist Trok was a monster with 3 blocks and 3 steals to go along with a goal. Paiz was the ultimate enabler handing out 3 assists. And not to be overlooked, John-o Henderson, Jacky Xu and Isaiah Savedra were definite factors with each putting up a goal and a assist. Last but hardly least was Calbert, who was strong again in goal with 7 saves. Calbert’s 4 steals were also deserving of mention.

Put all those contributions together and what you’ve got is an historic 12-6 conquest that gave the Jags a treasured title that they will always remember. This was a team that set high goals from the outset and worked its collective butt off to achieve them. Imbued with great team chemistry, unselfish to the max and sporting a classy attitude that followed them wherever they went, if a team was ever deserving a championship, these Jags were at the top of the list.

And now they’ve got what they so desperately wanted. They’ve climbed the mountain and conquered the pool. For these Jags and their outstanding coach Kline, it doesn’t get any better than that!



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