With substantial results to support their strategies, the Diamond Bar High School boys water polo team has yet again proven their resilience and reaped the rewards of their determination in light of all their strategy changes.
Ending with a 10-7 overall record and boasting a 4-1 league record, the team managed to end their season with solid results to show for their hard work and newly implemented game plans involving their offensive approach. The team ended second overall in the Hacienda League.
Head coach Marco Garcia commented on the overall performance of their team, praising the ability of upperclassmen and underclassmen alike to take charge and lead their peers.
The team’s new offensive strategy, though not without its shortcomings, has seemed to pay off in the grand scheme.
“[The strategy] got us some pretty easy goals, but honestly we just haven’t worked with it long enough to perfect it,” junior Matthew Arauz said. “I can definitely see it being highly successful in the future, though.”
Garcia further elaborated on the changes made to the original triangular offensive strategy that the team had been using in the earlier months of the season and how the team practiced around an improved format.
However, the team did experience issues that eventually affected their performance at CIF. Despite winning in a 13-5 game against Sunny Hills in the first round of CIF, the boys were eliminated in the next round in a 12-7 game against San Dimas. The game was back-and-forth until the fourth quarter, when San Dimas pulled ahead.
“I think overall, it was a lack of experience that was our biggest issue,” senior Juan Covarrubias said. “While a lot of the upperclassmen have had experience playing on a bigger stage before, I feel like those who hadn’t suffered more from nerves underperformed. I know we can all do great things, we just need to put them together and overcome our challenges as a team.”
