Holiday Cup

CORONA DEL MAR — The Corona del Mar High girls' water polo team was a young team with a first-year coach and a 1-3 record entering the Holiday Cup. None of these three facts worry Coach San Bailey and the Sea Kings. They know they're among the elite teams in Division I. On Thursday afternoon, they turned to an old CdM standby — the counterattack — to defeat Santa Margarita, 13-3, in a quarterfinal of the Holiday Cup at CdM. CdM (3-3) advances to the semifinals, where the Sea Kings will play Laguna Beach at 11:45 a.m. today at Newport Harbor High.

The Corona del Mar High girls' water polo team gets out of the pool during the fall season. From time to time, the Sea Kings play dodgeball. It's a good team bonding exercise and brings out the competitiveness in some of the players. Run for cover if Pippa Saunders has the ball. "It's funny, you always have certain athletes out there who sort of love to step up in certain moments," CdM Coach Sam Bailey said. "Pippa's one of those athletes. She's fearless, as far as going for a loose ball, moving out of the way, very passionate about stepping up and trying to make the hit. You definitely see Pippa's leadership, her competitiveness.

NEWPORT BEACH - If the Newport Harbor High girls' water polo team is leading headed to the fourth quarter, junior goalie Cleo Harrington waits for the words from Coach Bill Barnett. He said them again Saturday afternoon, going into the fourth quarter of the Holiday Cup third-place match. "If they don't score, we win," Barnett told Harrington, loudly enough that everyone on the pool deck at Newport Harbor High could hear. Corona del Mar didn't score in the fourth quarter. Newport Harbor was on its way to posting a 7-4 victory in the third-place match, getting a bit of payback after losing the Battle of the Bay match last week.

NEWPORT BEACH — If Friday afternoon's Holiday Cup title match was a case of David vs. Goliath, Corona del Mar had its collective slingshot aimed at Dos Pueblos and ready to fire. The Sea Kings are too good to play the David role. But as the game went on, the Chargers proved why they remain giants of the CIF Division I girls' water polo scene. Dos Pueblos survived a scare and rallied to defend its tournament title, 9-7. The top-seeded Chargers kept intact their 46-match winning streak, which dates back nearly two years to when CdM defeated them in February, 2009.

TODAY Basketball High school boys -- Costa Mesa vs. Sanger, at Newport Harbor High, 7 p.m. Water polo High school girls -- Sunny Hills at Corona del Mar in Holiday Cup (first round) at Corona del Mar, 10:40 a.m.; Huntington Beach at Newport Harbor in Holiday Cup (first round) at Newport Harbor, 10:40 a.m. Quarterfinals at 4:05 p.m. at both sites. THURSDAY Basketball High school boys -- Newport Harbor vs. Tesoro at El Toro, 3:15 p.m.; Laguna Beach at Estancia, 7 p.m. High school girls -- Newport Harbor at Whitney, 5 p.m. Water polo High school girls -- Corona del Mar and Newport Harbor in Holiday Cup, TBA.

The team that's favored to win the Holiday Cup is also the team that had the longest trip to get there. It's a nearly 300-mile round trip for Dos Pueblos of Goleta, but it's worth it for the Chargers. They're the top seed for the annual high school girls' water polo tournament, which begins today at Newport Harbor and Corona del Mar. The Chargers, led by Stanford signee Kiley Neushul and ranked No. 1 in CIF Southern Section Division I, are coming off an undefeated season last year.

Rick Devereux The Corona del Mar High girls water polo team scored 22 goals Thursday en route to a fifth-place finish at the Holiday Cup at Newport Harbor High. The Sea Kings (5-3) defeated Poway, 12-8, early in the morning to advance to the fifth-place game against Carlsbad. CdM then beat the Lancers, 11-2. Poway stuck close to the Sea Kings. CdM had a 4-3 lead after the opening quarter and a 7-6 advantage after the half, but outscored the Titans, 5-2, following intermission.

Corona del Mar High senior twins Stephania and Ioanna Haralabidis will be eligible to play for the CdM girls' water polo team after Dec. 31, CIF Southern Section director of communications Thom Simmons said Monday. Dec. 31 is the end of the sit-out period for winter sports transfers. The Haralabidis sisters transferred to CdM from Greece. "They were ineligible until we got all the paperwork that we needed to get from the previous school," Simmons said. "We have since received everything that we needed to receive from the school, and they are ineligible due to the SOP [Sit-Out Period]

Corona del Mar and Newport Harbor continue their respective roads in the high school girls’ water polo playoffs today. They will try to make sure their paths end with a second straight Back Bay CIF Southern Section Division I championship meeting on Saturday. Out of the two locals in the semifinals at Irvine High tonight, the No. 3-seeded Sailors (23-6) play No. 2 Dos Pueblos (26-3) at 5, followed by the No. 1 Sea Kings (28-1) against Foothill (18-10) at 7. Newport Harbor, the defending champion, appears to have the tougher of the two semifinals.

CIF Southern Section Division 1 semifinal No. 1. Santa Barbara (25-4) vs. No. 4 Newport Harbor (23-6) When/where: Wednesday, 6:45 p.m. at Woollett Aquatics Center in Irvine Key Dons: Sr. GK Maddie Trabucco; Sr. utility Kelsey O'Brien; Sr. attacker Rocio Fesembeck; Sr. attacker Sophie Trabucco; Jr. attacker Betsy Hendrix. Key Sailors: Sr. attacker Carly Christian (team-high 70 goals, 19 assists, team-high 55 steals); Sr. center Elissia Schilling (44 goals, 19 assists, 44 steals)