One could forgive Wilson fans in the Belmont stands for pulling out their brackets to double-check that they were in fact at a second round CIF playoff match.  Wilson completely dominated the King Wolves for three quarters, leading 7-0 at halftime, and 11-1 after three quarters, eventually going on to win 13-6 to advance to the quarterfinals.

It would be hard to overdescribe the physical dominance for the Bruins in the first half.  “We’re a well-conditioned ball-club,” said Bruins coach Tony Martinho after the game, almost sheepishly, “And I think you could see that in the defensive pressure we applied, as well as the counterattacks.”

The Bruins defense was so relentless that, despite shutting out the Wolves in the first half, goalie Noah LeBeau only had to make two saves.  The other Wolves possessions ended in steals (seven), :30 second clock violations (one), or shots thrown wildly, as King players couldn’t find an open lane to throw to, or a clear inch of water to kick out of.

Offensively, everything Wilson tried in the first three quarters seemed to work—swinging the ball around the perimeter, dumping it into the hole, skip shots, backhands…even fast breaks.  The scoring got started in the first with a three-shot possession, where Wilson missed the frame but got the ball back on a King touch, then shot it again and caught the rebound, then scored on a short skipper by Rick Dilday.  Michael LaBounty scored on a point-blank toss, and a pretty lob.

In the second, one of Wilson’s four goals came off the hand of Tyler Kennedy, after the ball was passed to every Bruin in the pool first.  Will Durnin scored on a high shot; Brandon D’Sa scored with a no-look throw while his head was being held under the water.  And LeBeau made his best play in goal by blocking a point-blank shot right back at the King player who’d thrown it, then blocking it back at him again on the rebound shot, before reaching out and taking the ball out of his hands.

The second half actually saw both teams score six goals (with five of King’s coming in the final period), but Wilson was in control throughout.  “We just wanted to wear them out,” said Martinho, who played all 19 of his 19 eligible players in the contest—again, a stat you might expect right before the playoffs started, or in the first round, but not in a contest to advance to the quarters.

The Bruins now look forward to play either Servite or San Clemente on Saturday in the quarters—the game will be on the road no matter who they face, thanks to an unlucky pair of pre-flips.  In that match, as in Thursday’s, Wilson will mark themselves “MR,” in memory of Melody Ross, the Wilson student who lost her life following a football game two weeks ago.  “We thought about trying to wear black caps for the rest of the playoffs,” said Martinho, who had Ross’ initials marked on his forearm, “But since you can’t really put anything on a water polo cap, the team decided to write the initials, to honor her.”

Offensive leaders for Wilson were Kennedy, who scored three goals, and LaBounty and Dilday, who each scored a pair.