ANNOUNCEMENT

THANKS FOR A GREAT WATER POLO SEASON. --- POLO ON!

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Boys High School Rankings for Week of 10/28/2012

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
 
"Pay no attention to the man Committee behind the curtain!"
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  1. Mercer Island
  2. Bellevue
  3. Auburn Mountainview
  4. Curtis
  5. Newport
  6. Auburn Riverside
  7. Roosevelt
  8. Enumclaw
  9. Puyallup
  10. Lakes 

Sometimes during a season, a team becomes so focused on an objective down the road that they simply do not appreciate the difficulty posed by obstacles immediately in front of them.  Without proper focus, those obstacles can become serious impediments to achieving a teams objective.  Thus was the situation in the third quarter of Mercer Island's game against Roosevelt when the Islanders fell behind by a score of 10 to 7.  Maybe the Islanders were looking ahead to their game with Bellevue or maybe the young Roughriders are really that good.  Most likely it is a little of both.  When it appeared the Islanders were on the brink of defeat, they reached deep within themselves and may have just found their heart and soul.  In sports, if you don't bring your focus to start a game, it rarely shows up in the second half, but the Islanders were able to regain their focus and up their intensity to pull off an improbable come from behind victory over Roosevelt by a score of 13 to 11.   With crisis averted, Mercer Island was able to turn their complete attention to Bellevue for a rematch to avenge their previous loss and regain the No. 1 ranking.  The Islander's focus and intensity were never in question in this game as the Islanders lit up the scoreboard first and maintained their lead throughout the game.  The Wolverines had their opportunities but were not quite able to match the Islanders effort throughout the game.  When it was all over, Mercer Island had a 10 - 6 victory and the No. 1 ranking in state.  For Bellevue, it's back to No. 2 for now.  Probably as good of time as any for the Wolverines to learn a valuable lesson as they prepare for State.  In A-Town it was the eagerly awaited rematch between Mountainview and Riverside.  This was the third meeting between these teams with Auburn Mountainview narrowly winning the the first two matches.  34 goals were put up the first time these teams met in the regular season but this time it was about defense.  Both teams appear to be in playoff form and for the third time this year, the Lions of Auburn Mountainview came out on top with a 8 - 7 victory over the Ravens.  Wow! Great game and a sign of great competition ahead at State.  Later in the week, the Lions completed their sweep of Auburn teams with a victory over the Auburn Trojans to clinch 1st place in the East division and retain their No. 3 position in the rankings.  All systems appear go for the Curtis Vikings heading into the playoffs as they complete their sweep of West division opponents.  The Vikings keep their No. 4 ranking displaying both offense and defense in wins over Mark Morris and Lakes.  Gee Newport, things seem to be quiet in your neck of the woods with Mercer Island and Bellevue getting all of the attention.  Rumor has it that the Knights will be in the wild card tourney.  Well, it doesn't matter how you get to State as long as you get there and the extra games will probably do you some good.  The Committee keeps taking heat, but Newport is still in the No. 5 spot.   Well Auburn Riverside, it was a great game against Mountainview and I know according to Raven logic a one point loss to the No. 3 team should make the Ravens No. 4, but it doesn't quite work that way. The Ravens remain at No . 6.  (Interesting one point victory over Stadium to end the week).  For Roosevelt, it could have been one of the greatest victories in Roughrider water polo history, but it was not to be.  Nevertheless, it was an impressive effort against Mercer Island and good enough to keep your No. 7 ranking.  The Enumclaw Hornets solidified their No. 8 ranking with victories over Auburn and Kentwood to wrap up play against East division opponents.  A November 1st match against Bellevue will provide an interesting preview to the playoffs.  The Puyallup Vikings hosted the Peninsula Seahawks and clinched a spot in the State tournament with a 12 - 8 victory  to remain at No. 9 this week.  The Lakes Lancers struggled in their loss to Curtis but were able to barely hold on  the No. 10 spot with an overtime victory over Emerald Ridge. That leaves Peninsula and Stadium out on the porch for now.  Both teams have a good shot at qualifying for State through the wild card route. (Update: Lakes and Peninsula are tied for third place in the West division and will play a winner to state game with the loser going to the wild card)

Polo On!
     

49 comments:

  1. Wow. With Auburn Riverside almosting beating Auburn Mountainview and Roosevelt putting up a good fight against Mercer Island it looks like some of the teams outside the comitte's top 5 could have a legitamite chance at the state title.

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  2. Who would you say are some players to watch for in the playoffs/at state?

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    Replies
    1. Sorry, but I don't track individual players and can't provide a proper answer. You can check game stats on the Tacoma New Tribune website to get an idea of some of the top scorers but that doesn't tell the whole story about which players to watch. I really appreciate defense.

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  3. Which north teams made state and which ones go to the wild card?

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    1. Mercer Island, Bellevue and Roosevelt. Newport is in the wild card i believe.

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    2. Not sure how or why, but Roosevelt appears to be in the wild card.

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    3. So it sounds like 6 teams play in the wild card; how many advance from wild card to finals?

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    4. Three teams advance out of the wild card.

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    5. Who is playing in the wild card?

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    6. Thanks! Can you keep us posted on how the wild card games are going?

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    7. These are the wild card teams. North division: Roosevelt and Bainbridge. West Division: Emerald Ridge and Lakes. East Division: Stadium and Kentridge. Wild card starts tonight 11/2 and finishes up tomorrow. Top three teams advance to State.

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  4. Only 2 north teams are going to state for sure?

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    Replies
    1. Three north teams advance directly. Mercer Island, Bellevue, & Newport.

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    2. Are the locations for games defined yet for Nov 10-13?

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    3. State begins on Nov. 7th and wraps up on Nov. 10th. Wednesday and Thursday games are played at either Lakes or Rogers. Friday and Saturday games are at Curtis.

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    4. How many teams advance from the wild card games?

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    5. Three teams advance out of the wild card.

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  5. Are you planning to make a girls rankings? I hear that the girls north and south are combining.

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  6. Well, it has been quite a year for Boy's waterpolo here in WA. The state tournament should be quite interesting to watch. I hope the rankings get changed up a bit, just to keep all of the teams from getting too egoistic, and to keep all of the boys working their hardest.
    Thank you Committee for keeping it interesting!

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    Replies
    1. Yeah the reason Washington wager polo is fun is because of the rankings. We may not be as good as teams in California but we haave the most fun league.

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  7. who won the Roosevelt newport game?

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  8. They split their regular season games. I don't believe there were any other games played between these teams. Not sure how the wild card was determined because it appeared that Roosevelt would have advanced to State based on tie breaker rules.

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  9. didnt roosevelt and newport have a game tonight?

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  10. Seems like there may be some confusion on Newport and Roosevelt with respect to the wild card. If Roosevelt held the advantage under the rules how does Newport get the automatic seed? The North should be transparent in how their rules apply if there is to be any credibility to their seedings. What am I missing? The rules are usually established before the games begin not after the season is over right?

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    Replies
    1. Good question and observations. I have no affiliation with the league officials and don't know their reasoning on this one.

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  11. From what I see Newport should be in the wildcard series. End of story. To override the proper process and rules unfortunately puts a cloud over things. If they finish in 4th in the state tournament will they then be declared state champions under some rules we don't know about? Having curve balls thrown at you during your season, losing players, and losing games often have consequences. Placements are based on current performance, not past reputation. Does not send a great message to players and fans. Best of luck to the teams in the tournament that earned their way in following the established rules. Karma will be on your side!

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  12. Who is advancing from the wild card?

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  13. Advancing:
    Emerald Ridge
    Lakes
    Bainbridge Island

    Out:
    Roosevelt
    Stadium
    Kentridge

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  14. Thanks, when will the games for next week be scheduled for and how does the seeding work?

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    Replies
    1. I'll post seedings tomorrow or Monday.

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    2. Wow, what happened to Roosevelt? A close 4 point lose to Bellevue, a 2 point lose to Mercer Island. One point loss to Mountainview, wins over teams like Enumclaw, Newport, Peninsula and they are not advancing to state. I hear they had a player rolled and were playing with minimal subs though in the wild card tournament.

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  15. Another year, another very deserving north sound team missing out on state. It should be interesting to see the logic behind sending Newport straight to state.

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  16. Seems like another one point loss to Mountainview there. I don't think it is really fair that Mountainview often has their own girls swim and water polo coach as their referee. Something should be done about that!

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    Replies
    1. There is a shortage of referees! This has been going on since this league was created. You should really think about getting into reffing.

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    2. Understood. If at all possible it should be avoided at State just to be certain it's all fair and square

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    3. That was only a one point win for mountainview against Roosevelt because their senior captain was injured during the first half and was still hurt the rest of the Curtis tournament.

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  17. Too bad for Roosevelt. Sounds like they might have been jobbed in this thing

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  18. Why does the tournament have to be in the south sound pools? Its not fair whenever there is a interleague matchup its always in the south. The state tournament should be in the King County Aquatic Center. Its still closer to the south teams more than the north but atleast the north teams dont have to drive all the way down to Rogers.

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    Replies
    1. I think everyone would like it to be at the Aquatic Center. It's too bad our state playoffs are the same weekend as the girls swim and dive State.

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  19. That's a question for league officials. I'm sure cost is one of the issues. It's not cheap to run a tournament at KCAC, but it is sure a great venue for a water polo tournament and it would be great to hold the championships there.

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    Replies
    1. Agree! Finals at KCAC would be awesome!

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  20. Any idea what time the final will be on saturday

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    Replies
    1. Finals are Saturday at Curtis at 7:30pm.

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  21. How can we get water polo to be a WIAA sport?

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  22. Wow. Stinks for Roosevelt. They are a very good team and definitely deserve to be in state. But they are still a young team so I would watch out for them next year.

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