Menlo boys' water polo rolls in Nor Cal return

“Connor and Hunter had been splitting time — until two games ago,” Bowen said. “Connor was on fire (Tuesday) night.”

Menlo is making its first appearance in the Nor Cal tournament since a 17-16 loss to De La Salle in the 2021 Division I bracket.

While the final score makes it look like it was a walk in the park for Menlo (14-8), it was anything but. If not for 19 saves from Burks — including a stop of a 5-meter penalty shot in the second period — the game could have looked vastly different.

“[Righetti] is a fiery team. Connor took the wind out of their sails,” Bowen said.

With Burks holding down the Menlo goal, it made the Knights’ offense that much more potent and Righetti (21-9) simply had no answer for Menlo hole set Hunter Coleman. Only a freshman, Coleman already possesses a game that is far more mature than his age would suggest and he pretty much had his way in the 2-meter spot.

While dumping the ball into the set isn’t Bowen’s preferred method of offense, it’s hard not to with a player like Coleman, who finished the match with a game-high seven goals. He scored the Knights’ first two goals to open the first period, with older brother Jackson Coleman, a senior, delivering the assists. He added a third for a natural hat trick in the opening period, with Burks supplying the assist on a fastbreak.

It was one of two assists on the night for Burks, who assisted on Adam Afar’s goal just before the end of the first period to put the Knights up 6-2.

Righetti, however, didn’t roll over as the Warriors scored the first two goals of the second period to close to 6-4.

“I was not comfortable at 6-2,” Bowen said. “I did scout [Righetti] a little bit. They’re intense. They have three different approaches to their offense and you don’t know which one they’ll use.

“But we were playing great.”

But Hunter Coleman used a power move in the set, holding off two defenders behind him and the goalie in front of him to power through and score his fourth goal of the game and a 7-4 lead.

It was that strike that truly showed his level of play. He didn’t simply receive the pass and instantly shoot, despite the defenders draped over his shoulders. He used what seemed an infinite number of feints before finally letting loose his shot.

“I’m usually looking underwater, looking at the goalie’s legs,” Hunter Coleman said. “I wait to decide to see which way he’s going to jump (to try to make a save).”

He later added his fifth on a 5-meter penalty shot for a 9-5 advantage and Jackson Coleman rounded out the first-half scoring with a goal off a rebound to put the Knights up 11-6 at the break.

It was more of the same in the third period: Burks denying Righetti at every turn and Hunter Coleman adding two more goals as the Knight led 14-8 after three periods.

Hunter Coleman wasn’t the only offensive threat. Afar and Lincoln Bott, two more freshmen, had three goals each, as did Calvin Barard. Alex Stoffel had six assists for the Knights who will host No. 6 Rocklin (22-11) at 5 p.m. Thursday in a semifinal match. Rocklin upset No. 3 Clovis West, 12-11.

Sacred Heart Prep 13, Rio Americano-Sacramento 5

The second-seeded Gators had little trouble with Raiders as they cruised the win in the Division I Nor Cal bracket. Oliver Marcin led the way for the Gators, scoring four times. Nelson Harris added a hat trick. Gate Gamble, Jake Reinke and Luke Kirincich had two assists each for SHP, while goalie Murdoch Baker-Matsuoka finished with 10 saves.

SHP (17-10) has a home semifinal match at 5 p.m. Thursday against No. 3 Miramonte-Orinda (17-10), which beat No. 6 Archie Williams-San Anselmo, 14-7. 

Girls

Sacred Heart Prep 19, Granite Bay 6

Coming off a dominating win in the CCS Open Division championship game, the Gators stayed hot as they rolled over Grizzlies in the quarterfinals of the Nor Cal Division I bracket.

SHP (25-2) was led by Natalia Szczerba, who scored a game-high seven goals and added an assist for good measure.

Kiernan Hogan added four goals and Casey Coleman had a hat trick for the Gators. Vivian Golub added two goals and four assists for SHP.