Coach all wet after Blackhawks splash to title

SAN BERNARDINO – The scene was wet and wild on a chilly night at Indian Springs High as Citrus Valley High defeated Beaumont 15-13 Wednesday to win the Citrus Belt League girls water polo title.

The occasion was the championship game of the CBL Carousel, a post-season tournament for all league teams.

When the final seconds elapsed in the Blackhawks’ victory, Citrus Valley players grabbed second-year coach Dominic Rios and tossed him in the pool.

“I got a little wet,” a still-dripping Rios said 15 minutes after the game. “I’ll just get a towel.”

Blackhawk players were jubilant as they posed for a team photo and hugged after the game.

“I feel really good,” said Citrus Valley standout Ava Northcott who scored a game-high six goals. “We worked like a team, and I think it was one of the best games we ever played.”

Northcott, a sophomore, is the daughter of Riverside City College men’s water polo coach Jason Northcott.

“This means a lot,” Ava Northcott said. “We haven’t come this far in like seven years, and this is a big moment for us.”

Northcott scored in the game’s first minute and her teammate Alexie Pacheco followed with a goal two minutes later. The Blackhawks led 2-0 and it looked like it might be an easy night for Citrus Valley.  

But Beaumont (19-7) is a resilient team that made the finals by rallying from a four-goal fourth-quarter deficit in the semis against Yucaipa to win 9-8 in overtime. The Cougars were not going away.

The Cougars’ Natalia Jaime who scored a team-high five goals scored two first-quarter goals and Colbie Puraci added another as Beaumont trailed 4-3 after one period.

Near the end of a seesaw first half, Charlotte Gile tallied for Citrus Valley to give the Blackhawks an 8-7 halftime lead.

The Blackhawks maintained that lead the rest of the game, though Beaumont didn’t make it easy. Gile’s goal with 4:52 left in the game increased Citrus Valley’s lead to 14-12. But Jaime scored for Beaumont with 4:31 left to trim the Cougars’ deficit to one goal.

Citrus Valley fans could not begin to relax until 1:59 remained when Ashley Sorrell’s high-arching shot eluded the Beaumont goalkeeper and drifted into the goal.

Citrus Valley goalkeeper Jessica Lucore had two saves in the final 2:50 to keep the Blackhawks in control.

Before long, Rios and his charges were in the pool, happily splashing around following Citrus Valley’s win. 

Rios fretted heading into the game.

“Kendra (Beaumont coach Mueller) and I have gone back and forth for the past three years,” Rios said. “We have a lot of seniors now who have been battling Beaumont since they were sophomores. I knew it was going to come down to the wire..”

Besides Northcott, Sorrell and Gile had three goals each for Citrus Valley (21-5), Kyleigh McWorter chipped in with two goals and Pacheco contributed one.  

Lucore finished with six saves.

Besides Jaime’s five goals, Julianna Wright had four goals for Beaumont, Puraci contributed two goals, and Malia Felix had one.

“It means a lot,” said Rios, a 2019 Redlands East Valley High graduate.  “All of the work these girls have put in – being able to overcome any challenge including our home opener against Yucaipa and our second game against Beaumont and winning both of them in overtime -- It took perseverance and we’re not done. We’re hoping for a long run.”

Citrus Valley went unbeaten against league opponents this season. 

Both teams now enter the CIF-Southern Section playoffs.     

Yucaipa defeated Redlands 15-5 in the third-place game. Esther Crandell scored eight goals for Yucaipa and Payton Harp contributed four.