Friends, family and familiar faces gathered on the pool deck at Christopher High as the town’s two water polo programs met head to head Thursday afternoon.
And when the pool ripples finally subsided, both Gilroy High and Christopher High had a piece of the victory pie.
The boys were up first, and Gilroy High edged Christopher High 5-4 in a spirited crosstown affair with Monterey Bay league Pacific Division implications.
The two teams had supporters in suspense for much of the contest. The Mustangs (2-3 league) led the defensive battle 4-3 at halftime and 5-3 after three periods of play.
Christopher (1-4 league) managed one goal in the fourth but was unable to find the equalizer.
“We played tremendous defense,” GHS head coach Fred Latimore said. “For us, that was the difference.”
GHS goalie Tommy Cox had 12 saves.
Garrett Pipkin and Brendan Reimer took care of the scoring for Gilroy, netting three and two goals, respectively.
“We gained some momentum with our win against Alvarez last week,” Latimore said. “It continued through to today’s game.”
Ryan Weberg, Jamie Walling, Shane Beeman and Brennan Wilson had the goals for Christopher. Goalie Connor McConkie had 23 saves.
It was the girls turn next, and despite the best efforts of Gilroy High’s shooters, the Cougars were
triumphant 10-3.
CHS (4-1) goalie Bella Marquez turned aside 23 of the 26 shots she faced in the game.
At the other end, the Cougars’ offense was led by Kaitlin Ramirez’ four goals. Hanna Marquez, Natalie Garcia and Shannon McAvoy each had two goals.
CHS, which opens play at the Watsonville Tournament today, led 4-1 at the half and 7-1 at the end of the third quarter.
Abby Kinle (2) and Katie Clark scored for GHS.
FIELD HOCKEY
Rival Los Gatos handed Gilroy High its first loss of the season after a 2-1 tilt in Mount Hamilton Division action Thursday in Gilroy.
The two perennial Central Coast Section contenders had it out in familiar fashion. The Mustangs (9-1 overall, 1-1 league) went up 1-0 on a goal by Monica Marrazzo, before the Wildcats (1-1 league) responded with two unanswered goals.
TENNIS
Christopher High swept Gilroy High 7-0 in the teams’ Monterey Bay League Pacific Division opener Thursday.
Emily Barham, Shelby O’Hara, Adena Chen and Nubia Juarez won singles matches for CHS. Tiffany Roberts and Yvonne AuYeung, Malia Campos and Samantha Sarabia, and Elizabeth Levan and Karoline Velazuez won doubles matches.
VOLLEYBALL
Christopher High rallied from two sets down to force a deciding fifth set against host Alisal, but fell shy of completing the full comeback in a marathon 25-22, 25-13, 20-25, 12-25, 23-21 loss to the Trojans on Thursday night in Salinas.
“It was a great, great effort,” coach Brian Calimpong said. “I like the direction we are heading.”
Production came from up and down the Cougars (4-8 overall, 1-1 Monterey Bay League) lineup Thursday. Four players had at least two aces, with Alex Gerberick leading the way with eight. Joy Kirkwood had four.
Hanna Tabron recorded 16 kills and Emily Doughty had 13. CHS had 60 total digs on defense, including Marielle Gomez’ team-high 12.
