BOYS' WATER POLO

Season Ends in Sudden Death, Triple Overtime Loss

After finishing the season with second round Ivy League record of 1-1 with a win over North and a loss to Poly the Wolves moved to the final tournament game with La Sierra in fourth place behind the Eagles. King played a great game and came away with a win to force a playoff game at Sippy Woodhead for the final league CIF playoff spot. The first half ended in a 4-4 tie. The Wolves took the lead during the third quarter and entered the final quarter up 5-4. La Sierra scored with 30 seconds on the clock to tie the game at 5-5. After two three minute quarters, the score remained tied at 6-6. The Eagles scored in the aptly sudden death period in a man-up situation. The loss ends the Wolves season with a 12-16 record and tied for third place in the competitive Ivy League.

Seniors Ray Whiting, Matt Branstetter, and Donnie Holderman exited the pool for the last time as players representing the Wolves. The team and staff thank them for their dedication, commitment, and sacrifice.

Wolves Place 3rd in Arlington Tournament

Continuing their rise in playing level, the Wolves finished up a strong week with a third place finish in the Arlington Tournament. Opening with a one goal loss to San Gorgonio, a team that King beat the week before, King rebounded with a two goal win over La Quinta. Donnie Holderman lead the Wolves with three goals in the 7-5 win. After La Quinta beat San Gorgonio, King advanced as the first place team in their bracket based on goal differential and head-to-head play.

The Wolves opened up the second day of the tournament with a semi-final game against cross-town and league rival Arlington. Playing one of their best games of the year, the Wolves kept it close, losing 7-12 behind four goals by Jordan McMorris.

The loss took King into the third place game against a much improved ex-Southwestern league rival, Chaparral. After opening up a 5-1 lead in the first period, the Wolves let down a little and let the Pumas back into the game to make the score 8-6 at the end of the first half. The two teams tied penultimate period, 2-2 to make the score 10-8 going into the final quarter. King continued their scoring assault, outscoring Chaparral 2-1 to make the final score 12-9 and secure King's third place finish. The win brings King's record to 8-12 overall.

King Opens League With Loss to #1 Poly

After winning five games in a row, the Wolves ran up against number one ranked Riverside Poly. Over matched, the Wolves were shut out for the most of the first period until freshman Levi Eastwood scored on one of his patented "freshman lobs". Ray Whiting and Donnie Holderman each scored one goal apiece in the 3-18 loss.

King Takes Consolation Championship in Rowland Tournament

Entering their second week of play which would see the Wolves hold only two practices in fourteen games, the Wolves finally got on track to take the Consolation Championship at the Rowland Tournament. After a fairly good game against Rancho Cucamonga (5-11) in a cold pool and a opening home loss to Los Osos (4-9), King opened the Rowland Tournament at Chino with a 2-7 loss to Chino. Facing West Covina in the second game of the day, the Wolves opened up a 2-1 lead in the first quarter and never looked back. Lead by Donnie Holderman with four goals, the Wolves racked up a 12-5 win. Facing Alta Loma in the third round Holderman scored six goals in the 13-3 win.

Saturday's first game brought the Wolves against a team from Coach Williamson's past, California from Whittier. After falling behind by a goal in the first quarter, King opened up a 4-3 lead by half. Out scoring Cal 3-0 in the third quarter, the Wolves continued their attack and won 10-7 behind Jordan McMorris and Ray Whiting, who each had three goals.

The final game of the tournament for King found the Wolves with the opportunity to avenge a loss from earlier in the season. Only a week earlier King suffered a 5-11 loss to Jurupa Valley in the Poly Tournament. Last game the Jaguars opened up the game with a six goal lead after only one period of play. This time the Wolves only allowed one goal, but were unable to score themselves. Matt Van Gorder put King on the board and tied the game with a 3/4 pool skip shot as time was running out on the shot clock. King finished the half up 2-1 and again outscored Jurupa Valley in the third period. Jordan McMorris scored the last of his five goals in the fourth period to preserve the 6-3 win.

Wolves Finish Poly Tournament 1-4

After opening the Poly Tournament with a loss to fourth ranked Redlands, the Wolves fell to Ventura and Jurupa Valley on Friday. They took on Fontana and played good defense holding Fontana to only 5 goals. Unfortunately, King was only able to produce three goals and fell 5-3. The last game of the tournament saw the Wolves play against the Rams from Ramona High School. Donnie Holderman scored a game high nine goals while Eric Hall added five of his own. Rookie Michael Macalalad scored his first varsity goal in the 15-6 win.

Wolves Open 2004 Season With Two Losses

On Monday, the Wolves started the new season slow with a game against San Bernardino. Down 11-4 after three quarters, the team fought it's way back with a 5-0 final quarter to cut the margin to 9-11. Tuesday, the Wolves traveled to old Southwestern League rival, Murrieta Valley. While not scoring any goals, the Wolves held the third ranked Nighthawks to 12 goals and the Hawks had to fight for everyone of them. The Wolves played MUCH better during the second game.

The JV team played their first game of the season against Murrieta Valley and came away with the Wolves' first boys' water polo victory over Murrieta Valley at any level.

King Looks Forward to New Season

Water polo players from Martin Luther King High School are looking forward to the beginning of another season after a very strong summer. With three returning starts in sophomore Trey Grinyer and seniors Donnie Holderman, and Matt Branstetter, the team built on the core by adding some new, young talent. Joining the above three are probable starters juniors Jordan McMorris, Matt Van Gorder, and Todor Anguelov, and sophomore Eric Hall. Coming off the bench to help will be junior Jonathan Nelson, sophomore David Job, and freshman Levi Eastwood and Adrian Parra. Adding to the mix will be Corey Crisafi, Brad Cullen, and Nick Barone.

Practices start at 7:00am on Monday, August 23rd at Sippy Woodhead Pool, with the first game being played on Monday, September 13 against San Bernardino. Having moved to the competitive Ivy League will challenge the Wolves. Check in regularly for updated information during the season.