Roundup: Buhach Colony, El Capitan boys water polo advance to section title games.
It’s going to be a parade of Merced County water polo teams competing for Sac-Joaquin Section championships on Saturday at the Roseville Aquatic Center.
One day after the El Capitan girls earned a spot in a title game, both the Buhach Colony and El Capitan boys teams will play for a blue banner on Saturday with semifinal victories on Wednesday at Tokay High in Lodi.
Buhach Colony 15, Rodriguez 10 in Lodi — The sixth-seeded Thunder (17-9) have relied on their defense all season and once again the defense led the way in an upset of No. 2 Mustangs in the Division II playoffs.
Goalie Gannon Groth finished with 13 saves to lead BC past Rodriguez.
“He’s our number one player on defense,” said Thunder coach Dan McIlhatton. “He’s pulled us through every game this year. He was stunning in the cage this year.”
Jack Bustabade led the Buhach Colony offense with five goals and Brayden Fookes added three goals and three assists. Drew Hill chipped in with three goals and three steals. Josh Whitaker also added three goals for the Thunder.
“We knew our defense would have to carry us and it did,” McIlhatton said. “Everything we got on offense came from our defense.”
Next up for the Thunder is top-seeded Bella Vista at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
Don’t expect BC to be intimidated after the Thunder have already disposed of the No. 3 seed Merced and No. 2 Rodriguez in the past two games.
“Bella Vista is a really well coached team,” McIlhatton said. “They have some big, physical players. We’re going to have to step up as a team and stop them. We’re going to have to rely on our defense. The better defense we play the less pressure we take off our offense.”
El Capitan 19, Beyer 8 in Lodi — The top-seeded Gauchos (22-7) will get their first shot at a section championship after defeating the Patriots in the Division III playoffs.
Rocco Cuttone led the way for El Capitan with seven goals, two assists and six steals. Teammate Jacob Gresham added six goals and five assists and Andrew Koenig came away with 10 steals.
The Gauchos outscored Beyer 9 to 2 in the fourth quarter to stretch a four-goal lead into the 11-goal margin at the end.
El Capitan will face No. 2 Oakdale in the finals at 10 a.m. at the Roseville Aquatic Center on Saturday.
“It’s the first time El Capitan has gone for a section title,” “Gauchos coach Connor Greene said. “It’s going to be interesting to see how our guys go out and prepare for it. How will they attack it? I hope they come out with the ability that I know they have.”
El Capitan defeated Oakdale 10-7 early in the season.
“It’s hard to judge off that game because it was almost a whole season ago,” Greene said. “Both teams are playing very different and both teams have grown since then.”
Girls Volleyball
Stone Ridge Christian 3, California Crosspoint 0 in Merced — The top-seeded Knights breezed in their Northern California Regional Division VI quarterfinal match with a 25-8, 25-7, 25-20 win.
Sasha Stillman led SRC (35-4) with 11 kills. Brooke Wareham added 16 assists and 11 aces.
The Knights will be at home on Saturday for a semifinal match against No. 4 Burney at 6 p.m.
