Edgar Melik-Stepanyan
For being a Pacific League champion, the Glendale High boys'
water polo team didn't get much respect Monday when the CIF Southern
Section Division III playoff pairings were announced at the CIF
office.
The Nitros were unranked in the division top 10 poll and Arcadia
-- a squad Glendale defeated, 11-9, on Nov. 7 to win its first league
title since 1998 -- finished 10th in the poll.
Glendale (14-14) will be one of three area teams to host an
opening-round match when it takes on Bell Gardens (20-9) at 3:15 p.m.
Thursday.
La Canada (17-10) -- the Rio Hondo League's runner-up behind
South Pasadena, the top seed in Division III -- will face Cerritos
(11-6) on Thursday, most likely at Pasadena City College, although a
time has yet to be determined.
CV (11-15), the Pacific League's third-place entry, and Flintridge
Prep -- the Prep League co-champion, which shared the league title
with Rancho Palos Verdes Chadwick but lost the coin flip to determine
the league's No. 1 entry -- open the playoffs today.
The Falcons will travel to Cerritos Gahr (15-9), the San Gabriel
Valley's third-place entry, in a wild-card match at 3:15 p.m. The
winner will play Manhattan Beach Mira Costa (20-7), the division's
third seed, on Thursday.
The Rebels, ranked sixth in Division VI, will host the Ocean
League's second-place entry, Palos Verdes (8-17), at 3:15 p.m.
Despite being their league's runner-up, the Spartans deservingly
received respect, garnering the second seed.
Barring a complete meltdown against Cerritos, they will likely
meet Pico Rivera El Rancho (18-9) in the second round Saturday, with
a possible showdown against Mira Costa or Montebello (23-4) at stake
in the semifinals.
Flintridge Prep's hole/set senior Nick Seaver will be the
catalyst to the Rebels' success.
Palos Verdes lost to Glendale, 9-7, a team the Rebels -- led by
Seaver's area-leading 152 goals -- defeated, 11-10.
Fountain Valley Los Amigos (12-12), the Garden Grove League
champion, or Anaheim Savanna (18-9), the Orange League's third-place
entry, will likely await the Rebels in the second round.
Glendale's road through the playoffs isn't as smooth.
Bell Gardens, which defeated Flintridge Prep, 17-9, has won nine
of the past 10 Almont League titles and boasts a roster with seven
seniors and three juniors. If the Nitros get past the Lancers, they
would probably meet South Pasadena (22-6), a favorite to win the
division crown, in the second round.
