Atwater star finally earns conference’s top honor. Buhach Colony duo also earn major awards.

Connor Norton was a marked man this season.

The Atwater High senior couldn’t go anywhere in the pool without drawing one or two defenders his way. Even with all the extra attention Norton was still one of the top scoring threats in the Central California Conference, leading the Falcons to the playoffs.

Norton was named the CCC Most Valuable Player by the conference coaches.

“Teams had to prepare for Connor on a game-by-game basis,” said Atwater coach David Svendsen. “It’s a testament to the time he’s put in the pool and the we play. At Atwater our defense has always led to our offense. Connor is a big part of our offense and also definitely a big part of our defense.”

Norton was happy to earn a league MVP before his high school career ended.

“I’m excited about it,” Norton said. “I tried to get it last year. I worked hard but (Merced’s) Abraham (Santana) was such a good player. I’m excited to finally get it.”

The CCC coaches didn’t have any easy decision.

Buhach Colony won the league with an 11-1 record. Seniors Joe Bustabade was named the Defensive Player of the Year and Luke Bird was selected as the Offensive Player of the Year.

Turlock’s Brandon Dhawnowa was picked as the Goalie of the Year.

“There’s a lot of tough competition in the league,” Norton said. “Joe, Luke and Zach (Fookes) are all great players at Buhach. Garrett Thomas out at El Capitan is a good player. Dylan (Bernardi) and Brandon at Turlock are good too. They are all really good players who play year round like me. I feel really honored.”

It took Norton a while to adjust to the constant double teams and extra attention this season. He still managed to make his impact on games.

“He was frustrated at times,” Svendsen said. “He’s not the type of kid to back down from anything. He didn’t get discouraged. He just had to be a little more creative and figure out how to attack that. Some times that meant to stay on the perimeter more. Other times he might wait and go into 2 meters later. He was ready for the challenge.”

The CCC first team was made up of Bernardi, Luke van Warmerdam (Atwater), Fookes, Thomas, Tommy Hamilton (Golden Valley), Noah Benson (Turlock) and Nick Eckles (Merced).

The second team was comprised of Matt Hesse (Turlock), Andrew Brown (El Capitan), Andree’ Shields (Pitman), Will Seifert (Buhach Colony), Aidan Ramirez (El Capitan), Hayden Giebeler (Merced), Matt Rogers (Atwater) and Jose Falconi-Cavalini (Golden Valley).

This story was originally published November 15, 2017 at 3:10 PM with the headline "Atwater star finally earns conference’s top honor. Buhach Colony duo also earn major awards.."