La Jolla High School junior Dexter Black, his water polo teammates and even student fans ended their day Nov. 15 by having a pool party at La Jolla’s Coggan Family Aquatic Complex.
The second-seeded Vikings topped No. 1 seed and two-time defending champion Cathedral Catholic 13-12 on Black’s deciding penalty shot with 28 seconds left for their first CIF San Diego Section Open Division boys water polo championship.
“We did it! First time ever!” yelled Black, who had four goals overall.
La Jolla’s Nate Thomson had a steal and Quinn Daniels a block in the closing minute of the rainy finals rematch between the Western League rivals. The Vikings (23-4) were making their third finals appearance in four years.
Cathedral had won both of the regular-season meetings with the Vikings this year.
Neither team led by more than a goal until Diego Dantas scored on a penalty shot for the Dons (24-5) with 29 seconds left in the third quarter for a 10-8 advantage. La Jolla rallied to pull even at 11 when Lev Kevorkian scored with 2:35 to go.
La Jolla next opens the CIF Southern California Regional Division I tournament as the No. 2 seed against seventh-seeded Loyola of Los Angeles at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 18.
The Bishop’s School
Meanwhile, La Jolla’s The Bishop’s School is the top seed in Division II of the regionals and will open against No. 8 Bonita of La Verne at 5 p.m. Nov. 18.
La Jolla High defeated Bishop’s 15-8 in the San Diego Section semifinals Nov. 11 when the Knights were the third seed in the Open Division.
— Glae Thien and La Jolla Light staff ♦