Experienced Talent Pool Helps Glendale Reach New Heights

The growing pains have subsided. The dues have been paid.

The Glendale High girls’ water polo team is no longer wet behind the ears.

Coach Carol Driffill entered her fourth season with the Dynamiters with an altogether different feeling: giddiness.

“We only lost one starter from last year so I knew it would be a good season,” she said.

It was better than good. It was great.

The Dynamiters won their first Pacific League title in four years and are 21-6 heading into the Southern Section Division III playoffs, which begin next week.

Experience is key for a team which finished third in league and 15-9 last season.

“This is the first year I could go beyond the basics,” said Driffill, whose team has seven seniors.

“They had a real feel for the game already.”

Seniors Kristina Garcia and Megan Scott have combined for 97 goals, making 55% of their shots.

Glendale allowed only 22 goals in seven league games. Goalie Cassie Bassanatti has 211 saves.

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Glendale isn’t the only team to benefit from returning talent.

Agoura (18-6), with five returning starters from a 21-6 team, went 8-0 in Marmonte League play for the second consecutive season.

“I think we’re playing pretty well right now,” Coach Jason Rosenthal said.

The Chargers lost two one-goal games to Harvard-Westlake early in the season and have shown great improvement.

Recently, Agoura, ranked No. 2 in Division II, defeated Esperanza and Long Beach Wilson, ranked Nos. 1 and 4 in Division I, respectively.

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When Harvard-Westlake was dropped from Division II to Division III along with the rest of the Mission League, Coach Rich Corso had one question:

How do we beat Bell Gardens?

It’s a question no team has been able to answer.

Bell Gardens, in only its second season of girls’ water polo, is the defending Division III champion, finishing 30-0 last season. The Lancers are undefeated in 26 games this season.

Corso knows a thing or two about Bell Gardens because he has had a scout at every one of the Lancers’ games this season.

“When we run a book on somebody, we run a book,” Corso said. “You can’t get enough tape, you can’t get enough information.”

Corso hopes he hasn’t put the cart before the horse by scouting the division’s top-ranked team with such fervor.

Harvard-Westlake (23-4), ranked No. 2 in the division throughout the season, cruised through league play, outscoring opponents, 176-22.

But recently the Wolverines have been broken by worthy competition.

Harvard-Westlake lost to Irvine and Los Alamitos, two top 10 teams in Division I, at the Southern California Championships in Irvine last week and finished 13th among the best 36 teams in Southern California.

“The Irvine experience is a good one because it gets us ready to play at the next level,” Corso said.

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Driver Liz Blase and goalie Melissa Lo of Harvard-Westlake have been accepted to Harvard and plan to play water polo. Blase will also compete on the fencing team.

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The Top 5

Rankings of region water polo teams

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RK School Rec. 1 Harvard-Westlake 23-4 2 Agoura 18-6 3 Glendale 21-6 4 Burroughs 22-6 5 Newbury Park 17-10

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