Both water polo teams played against El Capitan High School on October 7.
Girls Water Polo
During the beginning of the girls game Samantha Carter, the whole setter, came in like a force like no other and scored a blazing first point for the Los Banos team even when being trampled by her opponents. She said, “I was just on my back, so I was just praying that it went in.”
Besides that first goal, she made a whopping four more for the team and came down as an MVP that day amongst her other peers.
As the game progressed the El Capitan team began dominating at every aspect of the game. They were faster, had better communication and teamwork; all the things the Los Banos girls team lacked that day. Carter stated, “They played better defense and got on offense quicker.”
The final score for the girls game was 21-12.
Games like these are great for learning as a team about what they were great at and what they need to improve. Carter stated, “We could definitely work on getting faster on defense and work on passing. Honestly, there was nothing that stood out to me, but we tried our best.”
Boys Water Polo
As for the boys team, the loss was beyond brutal; it was humbling.
The game started off even with it being too early to determine which team was going to be victorious. The Los Banos boys team went in strong and early for the ball and were able to get to the 2 meter line consistently, but weren’t able to finish and score each time they did.
The team was doing great until one of the El Capitan players number (9) kept cherry picking them each time when the Los Banos team didn’t dump the ball soon enough. Each cherry pick led to a goal. Each goal led the team further and further away from victory until there was no possible chance of winning.
In the middle of the game, Patrick Warner, the whole setter for the Los Banos team scored an amazing shot bouncing off the water to the stars, giving the team their first point. Also Gannon Lemos, the team captain of the Los Banos team scored a jaw dropping 360 no scope shot into goal even when getting 3 on 1. Although the team tried their best, it wasn’t enough, ending the game 18-5.
That game showed that the boys water polo team still has a lot to work on, but as their coach Mr. Barger would say, “They’re still learning.”
Right after the loss Coach Barger stated, “Our team is really young, so we’re learning even though we have older people, seniors, juniors, sophomores, we do have a lot of freshmen who don’t know the sport itself, so every game is a learning game so we’re improving slowly.”
The opposite team in all were just faster which led to the loss of Los Banos that day. Barger stated, “The opposite is faster, so if they’re faster that means they could swim and cherry pick and score more goals, many more goals, so that’s where our team needs to be, is to get faster.”
Even though they lost, the team showed that their defense has improved. Barger stated, “Our defense is getting better, so that’s a big plus.”
The next game will be at Buhach Colony High School at 5:00pm at Pacheco High on October 9.
