DAVIS — For the second straight year, the Turlock High School boys water polo team advanced to the semifinals of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division I playoffs following an upset, overtime 9-8 victory on the road against Davis on Nov. 7.
The consecutive trips to the semifinals came after the Bulldogs cracked the final four for the first time in over two decades a season ago.
This year’s quarterfinal match between the No. 6 Bulldogs (19-11) and the No. 3 Blue Devils (17-13) saw the grand opening of the newly renovated Davis High Aquatics Center spoiled, as Turlock outscored their opponent 4-2 in the third period to cut the lead to 7-6, before scoring a goal in the fourth to send the game into overtime.
Senior Jack Brem paced the undefeated Central California Athletic League champion Bulldogs with four goals, tying with Davis’ William Cutler for most amongst all players.
Junior Ethan Parker had three goals while senior Lars Wenstrand had a pair.
Defensively, Parker led the team with five steals, with Wenstrand and fellow senior Jacob Packwood adding three each, Senior goalkeeper Jonas Bornmann posted nine saves on 17 shots to earn the win.
Turlock’s postseason run ended in similarly close fashion, dropping to second-seeded Rocklin (21-10) by a 13-12 score.
Wenstrand had four goals to lead the Bulldogs, while Brem had three and the trio of senior Caleb Tucker, junior Shane Petty and sophomore Kris Ream each had a goal apiece.
Bornmann posted seven saves on 20 attempts, but ultimately was unable to limit the Thunder offense, led by Adam Alexander and his five scores.
The match put a bow on an eventful water polo season for local programs, as the Turlock and Pitman girls teams each fell in the quarterfinal round on Nov. 6. The Bulldogs lost 17-6 to Oak Ridge and the Pride lost to Davis by a 22-6 score.
UPDATE: The Turlock boys team learned Sunday morning that they received an at-large berth to the CIF Northern California Regional Tournament. Seeded fourth in Division III, the Bulldogs will host No. 5 San Marin at 5 p.m. Tuesday from the Pitman High Aquatics Center. It is the program's first-ever appearance in the regional tournament.
All-CCAL Honors
The Turlock and Pitman high schools were well represented in the postseason awards list.
At the top of the list are Turlock's two coaches, Nic Serratos for the boys and Anne Cornell for the girls. They each led their teams to 10-0 records in CCAL play.
On the boys side, Packwood was named the CCAL’s Most Valuable Player, and Bornmann was named Goalie of the Year.
Brem, Wentrand and Tucker landed on the All-CCAL First Team alongside Pitman’s Braden Silveira. Parker was joined by teammate Miles Hakanson and the Pride’s Luke Vansteenwyk on the Second Team. Pitman’s Jayden Sedgwick and Turlock’s Jackson Leal were honorable mentions.
For the girls, Kallie Parker of Turlock took home CCAL MVP honors, while teammate Daphne Lewis at goalie was named the league’s Defensive Player of the Year and Pitman’s Kaydence Braley was tabbed Offensive Player of the Year.
Turlock’s Cora Newell and Joelle Maggard joined Pitman’s Alani Rivas, Alison Coughlin and Natalie Davis on the All-CCAL First Team. The Second Team included the Bulldog trio of Lou Bornmann, Summer Stricker and Riley Carranza and the Pride duo of Alex Perez and Miranda Miramontes. Honorable mentions included Annie Morrison of Turlock and Emma Capps of Pitman.
