Slam dunk for Central

When a coach thinks he might win a water polo championship, he makes sure his pockets are empty and his shoes are easy to kick off. Otherwise, the celebratory dive into the pool can be slightly less rewarding with a wet wallet or soggy cell phone.

Naperville Central took home two sectional championship trophies Saturday afternoon as the Redhawks swept Neuqua Valley, with the boys winning 9-8 and the girls winning 8-5 to grab both titles at the Neuqua Valley Sectional.

"It's never a bad thing to get thrown in the pool," Central boys coach Bill Salentine said after wringing the water out his red dress shirt. "You've usually done something really good. So I'll take it."

It is the third time Central has won both titles in the same season, having done it consecutively in 2005 and 2006. The Central boys have now won sectional crowns four of the last five years; the Redhawks girls have taken sectional titles three of the last four years.

The Central boys will face tournament host Stevenson in the state quarterfinals Thursday, while Central's girls will play Loyola on Friday.

"Right now I think I'm most excited for our juniors and our seniors because they walked off the pool deck last year obviously with a bad taste in their mouth," Central girls coach Jeff Plackett said after doing a cannonball off a starting block. "But tonight they're going to go to prom with a sectional championship plaque as the centerpiece at their table."

In the boys final, Central (26-4) took an 8-6 lead into the fourth quarter only to see Neuqua (19-8) knot it at 8 with 1:31 to play when A.J. Quebbman scored on a power play. Twenty-four seconds later, the Redhawks got the game winner on Max Saltzman's one-timer off a nice pass from Bobby Rickert.

This was Neuqua's first appearance in a sectional championship game. The Wildcats, who eliminated last year's champion and state runner-up Naperville North on Friday night, pushed Central to the limit Saturday.

Wildcats coach Martin Bell said his team displayed how the Neuqua program has grown and how it can compete with the state's best.

"I cannot say we lost that game," Bell said. "They did win. But I cannot bring myself to say we lost. They just made one more play than us."

Ben Reasons and Mark Menis both had three goals for the Redhawks, who beat Neuqua for the fourth time this season. Mark Giuliani scored two goals.

"No matter what it took, we knew we had it in the bag just because we've never wanted something so much," Giuliani said. "We really wanted this more than anything. It really makes everything that you've worked for all worth it. It's really great."

John Mikuzis scored three goals for the Wildcats, including two in the first quarter. Mike Rooney scored twice, pulling Neuqua within 8-7 in the fourth quarter with his second goal.

On the girls side, Neuqua (17-9-1) was the defending sectional champion and had won two of the three matches with Central (22-11) this season. The Wildcats lacked an offensive spark in the opening quarter, falling behind 2-0, and struggled to get the ball past Central goalie Sam Virella until the final minutes of the match.

"The one thing that wasn't on was our shots," Neuqua coach Lenny DePasquale. "I mean, I know their goalie is good, but we just could not put anything in the cage. We had the opportunities, we took the shots, and I mean, nothing went in."

Plackett said Virella, who had 13 saves, played the best game of her young career Saturday. He also credited his team's defense for staying on the inside of the Neuqua drivers, which forced the Wildcats to take shots from farther away and from more difficult angles.

Virella, a sophomore, said she tries to read her opponent's eyes to help position herself to make saves.

"But if they're a really good water polo player, like a lot of the Neuqua girls are and a lot of our girls are, they realize how to fake you out and they look one way and shoot the other," she said. "You've got to realize when you're up against a really good player, they're going to fake. You have to learn how to move your body one way and quickly change. And that's what I've been working on myself."

Claire Fleming led the Redhawks with three goals, including the first of the game and another on a penalty shot in the fourth quarter that gave Central a 6-3 lead. Kara Wilson scored twice to give her 99 goals on the season.

Jenn Rinehart and Kathleen Patterson both scored twice for Neuqua, with both tallying goals in the final minute.