Some thrilling boys’ water polo in the third quarter was overshadowed by a slow start from Wilson on Tuesday at Belmont Outdoor Pool. Los Alamitos took an early lead in the local rivalry, and went goal-for-goal with the Bruins in the second half in a 13-9 win.
Kade Margain led Wilson with four goals, while Caden Chen scored a game-high five goals for Los Alamitos. The Griffins (2-2) scored the first four goals of the game, and never let the Bruins (3-2) get closer than a two-goal deficit.
High School Water Polo: Long Beach Wilson vs. Los Alamitos
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“That was a fun third quarter and exciting for the crowd,” Wilson coach Jeff Nesmith said. “You could tell Los Al was fired up to be here. Unfortunately they had great shooting that made the difference. Kudos to them. They put the ball in the cage early and often.”
After a fiery halftime speech about mental toughness from Nesmith, Wilson came out and scored the first three goals of the second half thanks to solid play down low from Margain. His consecutive goals cut the Los Al lead to 7-5 in the middle of the third quarter, but an exclusion gave the Griffins a goal to stop the run. Los Al led 11-6 headed into the fourth quarter.
Wilson hosts Corona del Mar at 4 p.m. on Friday.
STATS
Wilson
Kade Margain: 4 goals
Hank Rivers: 2 goals
Gabriel Fields: 1 goal
Gray Carson: 1 goal
Mischa Tracy: 1 goal
David Vandevert: 8 saves
Los Alamitos
Caden Chen: 5 goals
Daniel Mori: 3 goals
Gabe Chang: 3 goals
Otto Nash: 6 saves
