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In the North Coast Section Division II girls’ water polo final between Amador Valley and Alhambra, there was one indisputable fact, and it led to the Amador Valley 9-7 win.
The Dons have Susan Swyers and the Bulldogs didn’t.
Trailing 4-2 at the half, Swyers took the game over in the third period, scoring six goals, and along with Abigail Jones adding a seventh goal, the Dons had a 9-4 leading into the final quarter.
Alhambra outscored Amador 3-0 in the final frame, but the Dons had the margin it needed to come out with the NCS title.
Jones had a first-period goal to finish with two overall, and Anusha Shelatkar had one to round out the scoring for Amador. Jones added five steals for Amador as well.
Deepika Suresh had five saves in the goal for the Dons.
First-year head coach Drake Southern did not know what to expect when the Dons got the top seed in the D-II playoffs. But after a pep talk from former Amador coach Tim Reilly, Southern had a great outlook.
“He was confident if the girls came to play, they could win (the title),” Southern said of Reilly. “I didn’t know what to expect but I trusted his word.”
The physical talent was there as far as Southern was concerned.
“This was all about mentality,” Southern said of the NCS run. “The mentality of getting the rest and recovery after each game and coming to practice with the right mentality.”
The outburst in the third quarter capped an amazing year for Swyers, as the Amador senior finished with 125 goals, 118 steals and 52 assists.
Suresh finished the year in the goal with a whopping 212 saves.
To advance to the finals, top-seeded Amador beat Irvington, Lick-Wilmerding and Marin Catholic.
In a 19-4 win over Irvington, Addie Drain had five goals, Shelatkar had four goals, Jones scored three, Zahra Alami had two goals and Rachel Thalman had a pair as well.
Swyers had a pair of first-period scores, then added 10 assists the rest of the way out. Suresh had a goal in the second quarter.
In the 10-6 win over Lick-Wilmerding Jones had four goals, with Swyers adding four of her own.
Genna Schmidt and Alami had one goal each to round out the scoring. Suresh had six saves in the win.
The semifinals saw the Dons beat Marin Catholic 6-2 in a match where Marin Catholic was intent on guarding Swyers with at least two players.
The Amador senior still managed four goals, with Schmidt and Alami netting the other two goals. Suresh was incredible in the goal, making 13 saves. Jones had nine steals to add to the strong defensive performance.
Amador football loses in first round
And the Tri-Valley Preps Playbook jinx continues…
One week after writing about the Amador Valley football team getting the shaft in the North Coast Section seedings meeting, getting the No. 7 seed in D-II play behind two teams the Dons beat this year, their season ended with a 24-14 loss to Monte Vista in the first round.
Back on Halloween night, the Dons got the better of the Mustangs, winning 35-14. But this time, the Mustangs flipped the script.
The loss brings a close to the local coaching career of Amador head coach Danny Jones. Jones and his family are moving to Idaho, where he will eventually head the program at a new high school.
Jones coached the Dons to NCS and CIF NorCal titles last year and a berth in a CIF State Bowl game.
Editor’s note: Dennis Miller is a contributing sports writer for Embarcadero Media Foundation’s East Bay Division. To contact him about his Pleasanton Preps column, email acesmag@aol.com.
