IRVINE >> The Bonita girls water polo team kicked it up a notch with a scoring spurt in the third quarter of the CIF-SS Division 3 final against Woodbridge on Saturday at the Woollett Aquatics Center.
The Bearcats then held off a fourth-quarter comeback attempt by the Warriors to hang on for an 8-6 victory that gave Bonita its second CIF-SS championship in the sport.
Bonita coach Olga Quiroz was a player on the 2009 Bearcats squad that won the Southern Section Division 6 title.
“I wore my (championship) ring today for good luck,” said Quiroz, who is coaching her first full season at Bonita. “To be a player in this was already beyond my wildest dreams, and to do this again with a team, with my (alma mater) as well … I feel like I’m dreaming right now.”
GWP D3 CHAMPION
Bonita hangs onto their lead and is your 2022 CIF-SS @SoCaliFord Division 3 Girls Water Polo Champions!
Final score:
@bonitabearcats: 8⃣
@gowoodrbridge: 6⃣#CIFSSWaterPolo pic.twitter.com/Atq5A3piUq
— CIF Southern Section (@CIFSS) February 19, 2022
Freshman Katherine Hugar, sophomore Hailee Heaton and junior Tori Carlson led the Bearcats (24-5) with two goals each.
Junior Lyndsay Cheung scored five goals for the third game in a row for the Warriors (19-5), who were playing in their first Southern Section final.
Bonita led 4-1 in the third quarter when Cheung scored with one minute, 30 seconds left in the quarter.
But the Bearcats took the momentum back with goals from Carlson, Marin Hickson and Emma Dore over the final 90 seconds to take a 7-2 lead into the fourth.
“The girls kind of feed off each other, so once one of them gets one, then the other wants it and the other one wants it,” Quiroz said of the scoring barrage. “We really wanted this today.”
Hugar’s goal early in the fourth quarter made the score 8-2 and the Bearcats were on the verge of a blowout victory.
“We got surprised,” Woodbridge coach Alexandra Farraro said. “We were caught sleeping. We just didn’t jump on it early enough and you have to in a championship game.”
Cheung scored two quick goals to make the score 8-4 with 4:11 remaining. She scored again to get the Warriors to within three with 2:20 left on the clock.
A shot by the Warriors’ Yana Sadiq hit the post, but Allyson Whythe controlled the rebound and scored to make the score 8-6 with 1:14 left to play.
By this point, however, the Bearcats were in a position to run down the clock.
Related Articles
Corona del Mar girls water polo defeats Agoura in wild finish to win CIF-SS Division 1 title
JSerra girls water polo falls to Centennial in Division 5 final after historic postseason run
Foothill water polo, swimming coach Jim Brumm to retire this spring
CIF-SS girls water polo playoffs: Previews of Saturday’s championship games
CIF-SS playoffs schedule for OC teams on Friday and Saturday
Heaton secured the win with a steal with 25 seconds left.
“It was just a big growth spurt for our juniors and especially our freshmen, who have never been in a high level game,” Farraro said. “I’m really proud of how they all handled themselves throughout the whole playoffs. This is just the very first of many appearances, I hope.”