The last time the Christopher and Gilroy boys water polo teams met, it wasn’t pretty for the Mustangs. This time around, however, the game went much differently — though the score may indicate otherwise.
The Cougars topped the Mustangs 12-4 at home Tuesday, sweeping the season series and improving to an 8-6 overall record on the season. The Mustangs fall to 1-6.
But the game was a lot closer than the score indicates. Christopher and Gilroy were tied at 3-3 at the half and the Cougars led by only a point — 5-4 — heading into the final quarter.
It was Gordy Papalias who broke things open for Christopher, starting an unanswered six-point scoring run for his team. Papalias scored back-to-back goals, to give his team a 7-4 lead, its biggest of the game. He also came up with a steal to keep the ball in the Cougars’ possession.
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“Gordy is a spectacular defender and he’s got a huge arm — he goes both ways,” Cougars coach Paul Wells said. “I value him mostly for his defense — not many people can shoot off of him. We he gets a head of steam and a clean shot he’s really lethal.”
Papalias was one of six Cougars shooters to score in the game — four of which had multiple goals. Wells said that having multiple ball handlers and shooters is a good sign for his team, indicating the a more balanced offensive attack that they’ve been lacking thus far. Nonetheless the Cougars need to get things started out of the gate, Wells said.
“They tended to business in the second half so that’s good,” the CHS coach said. “I’m really excited about the way they played in the second half — first half, eh — but that’s characteristic of us. It eats at my stomach for those first 15 minutes.”
Matthew Higgenbotham led Christopher with three goals in the game, while James Walling, Chris McCann and Papalias added two.
“(Chris) McCann, bless his heart, is really starting to come on the second half of the season,” Wells said. “In the first half of the season he focuses on defense. Now he’s starting to find his range as is Chris Spohr. People are starting to come on the second half of the season.”
Gilroy — who lost the two team’s first meeting 20-8 — was led on all sides of the ball by Sam Mandel. Mandel scored three goals on five attempts, had three steals and two blocks for the Mustangs.
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GHS coach Fred Latimore said he was proud of his team’s fiery effort, especially considering the last meeting between the two squads.
“We hung with them for three quarters, but ultimately we just don’t have the depth unfortunately to keep up with them for four quarters,” Latimore said. “Tremendous defense created opportunities for us today on offense and that’s what I talk about all the time. If you play great defense and you get turnovers on the ball we can make things happen down on offense and that’s what he (Sam Mandel) did for us.”
Brandon Reimer added the Mustangs’ only other goal with 17 seconds left in the first half, tying the game at 3-3 at that point.
Despite the loss, Gilroy’s ‘never say die’ attitude, Latimore said, is something his team can certainly hold their heads high about. “We could’ve put our tail between our legs and come out just said ‘Alright, we’re going to get beat today’,” Latimore said. “But they just showed tremendous heart and that’s why I coach.”
Gilroy will play at 4 p.m. Thursday at York.
Christopher will be back in action at 4 p.m. Tuesday at Stevenson. The Cougars are looking to get off to a better start in this match then they did against Gilroy.
“We’ve just got to get the adrenaline going faster,” Papalias said. “We’ve just to get intense faster.”
