Newport Harbor High girls’ water polo coach Bill Barnett has never coached his girls against Back Bay rival Corona del Mar with a CIF title on the line.
But, Barnett said, he knows what to expect for tonight’s CIF Southern Section Division I championship game at Irvine High.
“It’s always been a barn-burner,” Barnett said. “Just like North Carolina and Duke, Cal and Stanford, UCLA and USC.”
The longtime Newport Harbor coach would know. His boys’ teams won 10 CIF titles from 1967 through 1984. Along the way, Newport Harbor faced CdM four times for the Division 4-A title from 1974 through 1987. The teams also met in 1969, before divisions were established.
Of the five meetings, the Sea Kings won four, but Newport Harbor won the 1984 game, 14-9.
The only other sport in which the Back Bay rivals have met in CIF title contest is volleyball. In girls’ volleyball, Corona del Mar won the 4-A title in 1977, but Newport Harbor — coached by current UC Irvine Coach Charlie Brande — beat CdM in 1979.
