![\"La](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/SUT-L-prepwaterpolo-11169-1.jpg\")
La Jolla High\u2019s Dexter Black (left) celebrates after scoring the winning goal against Cathedral Catholic in the CIF San Diego Section Open Division boys water polo championship game Nov. 15 in La Jolla. (Denis Poroy)<\/p>\nLa Jolla High School senior Dexter Black understands the comparisons to his older brother, Kiefer, who preceded him on the Vikings\u2019 boys water polo team.<\/p>\n
Dexter approaches the 6-foot-8 Kiefer in height.<\/p>\n
Both are left-handed. Both play the same position.<\/p>\n
Both have been standouts for La Jolla over their prep careers four years apart.<\/p>\n
Plus, they share a brotherly resemblance.<\/p>\n
To top it off, Dexter is following Kiefer to the Naval Academy to play water polo for the Midshipmen.<\/p>\n
\u201cDefinitely, I get a lot of comparisons, and a bunch of people have been asking me, \u2018Are you going to go there and break all of his records? Who\u2019s better at this and that?\u2019 I just love the competitive nature,\u201d Dexter said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve always had a great competitive relationship, and my relationship with him has really pushed me to be the best.\u201d<\/p>\n
Surpassing what Kiefer has done at Navy would be quite an accomplishment. Now a senior at Annapolis, Kiefer Black is on track to break the school\u2019s three-decade-old career goals record of 282.<\/p>\n
The oldest Black siblings, twins Kroix and Cole, also played water polo at La Jolla, two years ahead of Kiefer.<\/p>\n
So family members were intensely aware that the Vikings were seeking their first San Diego Section Open Division Championship last season in their fourth final since the division was created in 2014.<\/p>\n
With 28 seconds left to play, Dexter Black converted a penalty shot that put the Vikings ahead. The defense then closed out a 13-12 victory over two-time defending champion Cathedral Catholic.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has always been a goal of our family to win that game,\u201d said Dexter, who had a game-high four goals vs. Cathedral Catholic and helped lead the postgame celebration in the pool. \u201cIt has meant everything to not only me, but also my team and the coaching staff. And we couldn\u2019t be more excited about this season to try and do it again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Black was named the CIF San Diego Section Player of the Year. Should he repeat, he\u2019d be the first to do so since Nico Sardo of Bishop\u2019s did it in 2004 and 2005.<\/p>\n
Like his brothers, Dexter had an early athletic background in basketball and lacrosse. Then, through the suggestion of Kiefer, Dexter took up water polo midway through the seventh grade.<\/p>\n
\u201cKeifer said, \u2018Dex, why don\u2019t you give it a try?\u2019 \u201d Dexter said. \u201cAnd I thought, \u2018Oh, most of my friends play water polo; why don\u2019t I give it a try?\u2019 I just picked it up really quickly, loved the sport, and have been evolving ever since.\u201d<\/p>\n
La Jolla High\u2019s Dexter Black (left) celebrates after scoring the winning goal against Cathedral Catholic in the CIF San Diego Section Open Division boys water polo championship game Nov. 15 in La Jolla. (Denis Poroy)<\/p>\n
The comparisons between the brothers began in earnest once Dexter joined the varsity in his sophomore year.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have the same kind of balance,\u201d La Jolla coach Tom Atwell said. \u201cThey have big wingspans, so the ball just seems like it\u2019s moving all over the place before they release it. They both have a fast release once they decide to shoot it. Don\u2019t tell Kiefer, but I would just say that Dexter is probably more of a pure shooter.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kiefer played two summers ago on the USA Junior Team that earned a silver medal in the World Aquatics U20 World Championships in Croatia.<\/p>\n
This summer, Dexter got his first taste of international competition on the USA Youth National team that set a milestone by getting a silver medal in the World Aquatics Youth World Championships in Portugal.<\/p>\n
Also on the roster were Cathedral Catholic\u2019s Jett Taylor, Braylen Axline and Grayson Taylor and Aiden Shin of Bishop\u2019s.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was amazing,\u201d Dexter said. \u201cI mean, it was such a fulfilling experience to be able to play for my country and go out with some of the best players in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ahead of the trip, the American youths tuned up with a match against the Los Angeles Athletic Club, which had a guest player, Kiefer Black. So the brothers had their first chance to face each other in competition.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnfortunately, our team lost,\u201d Dexter Black said. \u201cBut it\u2019s something I\u2019ll remember for the rest of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Overall, the summer had a noticeable impact on Dexter.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis water polo IQ is way up, just even compared to a year ago,\u201d Atwell said. \u201cJust the way he understands the game and reads what\u2019s happening in front of him. Also, leadership-wise, he\u2019s doing a great job.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dexter considered national powerhouses UCLA and USC before deciding on Navy during the summer. It\u2019s a program that he knew well through Kiefer\u2019s connection.When the Midshipmen played in a tournament at UC San Diego last season, they followed one day of competition with a team dinner at the Black family home.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m super happy with my decision,\u201d Dexter said. \u201cI was looking in terms of my future and the type of team I want to play for. Obviously, the Naval Academy is going to set me up for a really great future.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dexter Black extends a pipeline of local players heading to the Naval Academy. This season\u2019s roster includes 10 players with San Diego ties, including five from Cathedral Catholic.<\/p>\n
Dexter\u2019s two oldest brothers attended Yale, the alma mater of his parents, Phil and Cyndi. Phil Black also served as a Navy SEAL, and Kroix and Cole are looking to join the Navy, likely through the Officer Training School.<\/p>\n
La Jolla is off to a 5-1 start this season. The Vikings have all-section performers Quinn Daniels, Henry Glenisar and Lev Kevorkian back from last season.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur goals are pretty much the same as last year, try and win as many games as we can,\u201d Dexter said. \u201cWe want to get back to the final and see what can happen.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"La Jolla High School senior Dexter Black understands the comparisons to his older brother, Kiefer, who preceded him…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":449116,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[2044,181,74,76,75,127],"class_list":["post-449115","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-high-school-sports","tag-latest-headlines","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449115","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=449115"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449115\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/449116"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=449115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=449115"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=449115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}