Warrior girls reach CIF water polo semifinals

Fallbrook High School’s girls water polo team defeated Helix in the Feb. 21 quarterfinals of the CIF Division I playoffs before a 10-5 loss to Granite Hills in the Feb. 25 semifinals ended the Warriors’ season.

“Granite played great and played better than we did,” said Fallbrook coach Sean Redmond. “On any given day anything can happen and it did.”

The Warriors won all five of their Valley League matches to capture the league championship and concluded regular-season play with a 19-10 overall record. The Warriors were given the second seed in the Division I playoffs. “It was probably the right seed,” Redmond said. “I thought it was a great seed for us, especially with the way we played.”

Twelve teams earned Division I playoff berths. The top four seeds, including Fallbrook, received first-round byes. Ramona, which finished second in the Valley League standings, was seeded seventh and faced tenth-seeded Helix in those two teams’ first-round game Feb. 18. The 7-4 Helix victory advanced the Highlanders to the quarterfinal against Fallbrook at La Jolla High School’s Coggan Pool.

Fallbrook and Helix had played each other twice during the 2014-15 regular season. On Dec. 8 a non-tournament game at Helix went into overtime before ending with the Highlanders prevailing by a 14-13 score. The two teams faced each other in the Dec. 15-20 Winter Classic tournament on Dec. 20 at the Granite Hills High School pool; in that contest Fallbrook was on the preferred end of the 7-4 final score.

“The third game was definitely a close game and a tough game for us, but the girls were able to come through,” Redmond said.

Each team scored twice in the first period. Fallbrook held a 3-2 halftime lead, but Helix scored the only goal in the third quarter. The Warriors’ 3-1 scoring advantage in the fourth quarter produced the 6-4 victory.

Claudia Oppermann, who was Fallbrook’s only senior, scored three goals against the Highlanders. “That was the difference-maker,” Redmond said.

Coggan Pool was also the venue for the Feb. 21 quarterfinal between third-seeded Granite Hills and sixth-seeded Patrick Henry, so the Fallbrook squad watched the game which ended as a 6-5 Granite Hills win. “That was a totally different team than what we saw,” Redmond said of the Eagles’ one-goal victory.

In the semifinal match at Coggan Pool, the Warriors took a 1-0 lead on a Caitlyn Batty goal, but the Eagles scored the final three goals of the first quarter. “It took us a little bit of time to adjust and respond,” Redmond said.

Granite Hills led 5-2 at halftime and 9-4 entering the final period. “We didn’t give up,” Redmond said.

The Eagles extended their lead to 10-4 during the fourth quarter, but in the final 50 seconds Taylor Dowden stole the ball and subsequently shot it into the net. “That just shows the tenacity of our team no matter what,” Redmond said.

The Warriors thus concluded the 2014-15 season with a 20-11 record. The 20-win season was the first for Redmond, who has coached the Warrior girls water polo team for four seasons. “I think a lot of the credit also goes to our assistant, Rich McKeown,” Redmond said.

McKeown joined the girls program at the start of the season and was an assistant coach for the varsity, junior varsity, and novice programs. “With what he did working with the girls and teaching them the basics, the fundamentals, I think that made the biggest difference,” Redmond said. “The girls responded well to him.”