The Merced High boys, girls water polo team celebrate CCC championships.
The Merced High School boys and girls water polo teams wrapped up Central California Conference championships with both teams going a perfect 10-0 in conference play on Thursday night with victories at El Capitan.
The Lady Bears defeated the Gauchos 15-5 to improve to an impressive 25-2 on the season. Sarah Slocum paced Merced with five goals, three assists and three steals. Dottie Drury added four goals, four assists and four steals and Taylor Lung chipped in with four goals, two assists and four steals.
Merced goalie Audry O’Bruba finished with nine saves. “It’s a great feeling to have completed an undefeated season and moving on to the section championship tournament,” said Merced coach Kit Grattan, whose team has won back-to-back CCC championships. “Hard work, dedication and team defense has been the key to our overall success.”
The Bears now continue their quest of winning back-to-back Sac-Joaquin Section championships. Merced is currently ranked No. 2 in the section overall and No. 1 in Division II by MaxpPreps. The playoffs begin on Tuesday, Nov. 4.
Buhach Colony 10, Atwater 2 – Aralyn Finn scored three goals, picked up three assists and added three steals to help lead the Thunder past the Falcons. Fiji Chang scored three goals and Tamara Pena chipped in with three goals and four steals for BC. Thunder goalie Kodie Stevens finished with 10 saves and five steals. Buhach Colony improved to 11-11 overall and 5-5 in the CCC.
Boys Water Polo
Merced 19, El Capitan 6 – The Bears extended their winning streak to 21 consecutive victories to win their third consecutive CCC championship. Reid McCall led the way for the Bears (26-2) with five goals, three assists and two steals and Eli Hamm added five goals and five steals.
Cord McCall scored three goals, picked up six assists and three steals for the Bears. Hunter Gossett chipped in with one goal, three assists and seven steals and goalie Eli Morrison finished with eight saves, two assists and three steals.
The Bears are currently ranked No. 1 in the section and will likely earn the top seed for the playoffs, which begin on Monday.
Buhach Colony 12, Atwater 9 – Talin Tipler scored five goals and picked up two steals to help the Thunder edge the Falcons in the regular season finale. Tayven Tipler added three goals and four steals and Joseph Laranjo picked up two goals and four steals for Buhach Colony (12-12 overall, 6-4 CCC).
Atwater was led by Josh Borba, Maverick Shepherd, Grant Williamson and Brandon Lara, who all scored two goals. Falcons goalie Cris Alvarez finished with 11 saves.
Shawn Jansen is the MUHSD Program Manager Digital Media. He can be reached at Sjansen@muhsd.org.