The boys water polo team is gearing up for playoffs after wrapping up their regular season with the North-South Tournament, hosted at Sacred Heart Preparatory School in Atherton from Oct. 17-19. The Wolverines finished in fourth place overall, with a record of 2-3. With the tour- nament results, the team will likely be the fourth seed in the CIF-SS Open Division tour- nament, set to face undefeated powerhouse Newport Har- bor High School in the first round. In addition to their tournament, the team beat Loyola High School 11-9 at home Oct. 23.
The team started with a 12-9 loss in an exhibition match to De La Salle prior to the tournament, followed by a 16-7 win against San Ramon Valley to open the tournament. In the quarterfinal match, the team escaped defeat with a comeback victory over Sacred Heart Prep 12-10, but then fell to JSerra 13-10 in the semifinal. In third place match, they lost to Oaks Christian 9-8.
Boys Water Polo Head Jack Grover said the team struggled with following their strategies early in matches, which affected their ability to capitalize on opportunities.
“The part that was the most frustrating, where we have the most room to grow, is exe- cuting a game plan properly,” Grover said. “We knew what kind of defense we were go- ing to see against all the teams that we played and had spe- cific game plans for how we were going to attack it, and we weren’t doing it until after the third offensive possession. When you’re not executing game plans, you can’t really expect to win in a sustainable way.”
The team faced additional challenges during the tournament, with several key players missing games due to miscon-
duct penalties. Attacker Jack Shapiro ’26 said the team had to adapt to these absences.
“The biggest challenges we faced was being down a few key guys during specific games due to game misconduct,” Shapiro said. “We had to adjust, and the next guy had to step up in order to bounce back as a team.”
Going into playoffs, Shapiro said the team needs to fall back on their culture in times of adversity.
“When we focus on the positives and stay positive even in the hard times, we will end up being successful,” Sha- piro said. “But when we start bickering and getting negative, nothing good ever comes out of it. We will take these lessons into the rest of the season and make sure to stay positive with each other and support each other because we are all brothers.”
The Wolverines will face Newport Harbor on the road in the first round of the CIFSS playoffs with date to be announced in the first week of November. The team has yet to overcome the Sailors this season, with four losses in total.
