Photo by Peter Jackson

Girls Water Polo Preview:

Who: Bonita vs Woodbridge
What: CIF-SS Division 3 Championship
Where: William Woollett Aquatic Center in Irvine
When: Saturday at 9:30 a.m.

Bonita is just one win away from a potential CIF-SS Division 3 championship.

The Bearcats enter Saturday morning’s title tilt with Woodbridge playing great defense, and as they say in every sport, “defense wins championships.”

In playoff victories over Arlington, Vista Murrieta and Peninsula, Bonita goalie Maddie Jackson and her defense has held that postseason trio to a combined 24 goals under their scoring average.

The Bearcats defense and offense seems to feed of the other and from all information gained, the girls in green have all understood, accepted and thrived in their individual roles.

Woodbridge and Bonita seem to be a statistical mirror of the other, as both programs have allowed exactly 181 goals apiece in 2021-22.

Offensively, Woodbridge averages 12 goals per game to 10 for BHS.

Neither the Bearcats nor the Warriors post individual stats online, but both programs have relied on a balanced offense in the playoffs.

In the playoffs, both Woodbridge and Bonita opened with sizeable victories, while Wednesday’s semifinal round was determined by three goals or less.

Hailee Heaton, Tori Carlson, Katie Hugar and Grace Jackson are just a few of Bonita’s key to success offensively.

And if Maddie Jackson is able to keep up her stingy play defending the Bearcats goal, waking up early on a Saturday morning will be the time of their lives.

Lastly, we asked Coach Quiros, Hailee Heaton and Maddie Jackson to comment on what they need to do well to give Bonita its best chance of heading back to La Verne with the CIF trophy, why their defense and goalie have been so stifling in the postseason and if the regular season finale loss to Claremont served as a timely wake-up call.

And below are their answers.

Quotable:

Bonita coach, Olga Quiros: “Our athletes are conditioned and ready. Our last few practices have been pretty broken down and detailed. It’s definitely not going to be easy, Woodbridge is a phenomenal team. They’ve beat out every other team just like we have, it’s going to be an exciting game. I really think tomorrow we’ll be successful if we do what we practiced and continue to communicate in the pool. Our goalie Maddie is seasoned, she’s older and she has great pool vision. She’s vocal and she lets the defense know what she needs and where she wants the shot to come from. Hailee Heaton is an incredibly strong shooter, and Tori Carlson is so active in the water and she can play any position. But ultimately, what I’ve been telling the team is- We lose as a team and we win as a team. Everyone needs to be on tomorrow, every quarter counts and every minute counts. We are so honored and excited to be at the final game for our division. They’ve worked very hard to get to this point. Everyone is so proud of them, and it’s been a true pleasure to coach this group of talented young women. No matter what happens tomorrow, they earned their spot. They deserve to be there, and it’s all been worth it.”

Bonita sophomore, Hailee Heaton: “A big part of our success offensively is how positive our team is. We are constantly encouraging each other when we make mistakes. We take great pride in our defense and we owe a lot of our success to Maddie. She is unbelievable in goal and is a great leader. Claremont was a huge wake-up call for us. We walked into that game with no intensity. We learned that we can’t play like that and win.”

Bonita senior, Maddie Jackson: “I believe that our success can be attributed to the team as a whole, very little of it is myself. The only thing that I have done is try my best with the hand I’ve been dealt, and my team is an amazing hand. My teammates are very flexible, and their ability to remain flexible has made defending the cage a little less complicated. I know it’s cliché, but the phrase “the best defense it a good offense” is accurate in this sport. The longer we remain on offense, the less time the other team has to score. Yes, it was a wake-up call. It was a valuable reminder of confidence vs egotism, and waiting to celebrate. I firmly believe that we ought to recognize small victories but wait to celebrate the overall win until after the game is over.”

By The Numbers:
Records: B (23-5); W (19-4)
Goals Scored: B (284); W (276)
Goals Allowed: B (181); W (181)
CIF Playoffs Goals For/Against: B (32-19); W (38-22)
League Finish: B (Palomares Champs); W (Pacific Coast Champs)
Current Win Streak: B (3); W (5)
Final CIF-SS Division 3 Ranking: B (5); W (2)
MaxPreps State Ranking: B (30); W (23)

CIF-SS Division 3 Playoff Scores:
Feb 10:
Bonita 17, Arlington 9
Woodbridge 14, Costa Mesa 5

Feb 12:
Bonita 6, Vista Murrieta 4
Woodbridge 16, Temple City 10

Feb 16:
Bonita 9, Peninsula 6
Woodbridge 8, Beckman 7

Feb 19:
Bonita vs Woodbridge at Woollett Aquatics Center

I asked CIF-SS if there were any health regulations to make the Bonita contingency aware of, and they sent me the following link:

Good luck, Bearcats!

COVID-19 Outdoor Event Guidelines:  Mega-events – Coronavirus COVID-19 Response (ca.gov)

Directions:

The Woollett Aquatics Center is at 4601 Walnut Avenue in Irvine.

Take the 57 South to the 5 South and exit Culver Drive.

Turn right on Culver, get into the left two lanes, and turn left on Walnut Ave.

Bonita Roster:
No. 1: Madeline Jackson
1A: Madison Braun
2: Emma Dore
3: Natalie Tran
4: Tori Carlson
5: Hailee Heaton
7: Grace Jackson
8: Katherine Hugar
9: Natalie Sung
10: Kayla McKa
12: Brianna Flores
16: Kaitlyn Daugherty