Hood River Valley’s girls water polo team took care of business in an efficient, workmanlike manner Saturday on its way to the 2022 Oregon 5A/4A state championship.
Coach Kellie Dunn’s Eagles, led by the tourney’s most valuable player, senior Emma Titus, defeated Hillsboro, 10-6, for the title at Osborn Aquatic Center in Corvallis. It was HRV’s fourth girls state championship since the program was started in 2014.
The Eagle boys were trying to join their female teammates on the top of the state podium, but they lost to top-ranked Summit in the boys title match later Saturday afternoon. HRV (18-7), seeded No. 3, defeated No. 2 seed, West Albany, in the semifinals, 12-11. Awaiting the Eagles in the Saturday final was Summit. Hood River, third in the boys tourney in both 2017 and 2018, and second in 2021, had no answer for the Storm. But having two teams in the championship tourney was a benefit to both Eagle teams.
“We definitely have a really good unity between the boys team and girls team … it’s really a nice group of kids to have that bond and have that connection,” Dunn said.
The HRV girls, who entered the eight-team state playoffs as the No. 1 seed, defeated No. 4 Ashland, 13-4, in Friday’s semifinals. Ashland beat HRV in last season’s state championship game, leaving a year-long sour taste in the returning players’ mouths.
“There definitely was a little bit extra motivation for sure, but we treated that as we did any other game; we came in prepared and put everything into it,” said senior Bergen Rust.
Hood River took control after the break of the semifinal game, fueled by solid defense, led by goalie Esmé Price. The junior had four saves and prevented a number of other shots on goal by beating Grizzly players to the ball to thwart fastbreaks. “Our defense was so good they didn’t get many shots off against us and Esmé kept stealing the ball before they got a chance to shoot,” Dunn said.
Price and teammate Tess Marsden each had five of HRV’s 24 steals.
Offensively versus Ashland, Titus had a hand in eight of HRV’s 13 goals — she scored seven and assisted on another. Rust and sophomore Sophie Cross added two goals apiece; and junior Avery Walker and sophomore Ella Simms each scored one.
Defense played a big role for the Eagles all season, and it was showcased at state.
“Our defense is absolutely what won the Hillsboro and Ashland games. We’ve talked a lot this season about how if you play good defense, offense will fall into place, and these last two games were definitely a reflection of that,” Dunn said.
Hillsboro presented HRV with an interesting championship matchup. The two teams played on Oct. 4, when Hood River won a close one at home, 10-7.
“I’ve always told our team, Hillsboro’s a very slippery team to play. They’re really good at playing up and rising to occasions. … Going into it … having gotten second last year, no one wanted to finish in that position against this year.”
Titus said she was concerned about Hillsboro’s penchant for being a fast-starting team.
“We had beaten them once before and if we played like we did against Ashland and stayed calm, cool and collected we were going to be able to beat them.”
Dunn said the play of Hillsboro goalie, senior Abby Ness, kept the score close. “(She) is one of the reasons why the game stayed as close as it was,” the coach said.
Another reason for the close score was the play of the HRV defense. The Eagles used their aggressive play to outscore the Spartans 5-0 in the second period. The defense led to some good counter-attack opportunities.
The score was 9-2 after three periods, which allowed Dunn to get in as many players into a championship game as possible (all 18 players on the roster saw playing time at the state tourney). “That second quarter, they just came alive,” Dunn said of her players. “With each goal that they scored they believed even more.”
Titus showed her versatility in the title game against Hillsboro, taking on a playmaking role with four assists and six steals to go along with her two goals. Cross scored three times, Rust found the back of the net twice.
Price had seven saves and her quickness (five steals) thwarted part of Hillsboro’s blitzing strategy. “She had a lot of steals and prevented a lot of shots that way,” Dunn said of her goalie.
“She had a great game and held the back end down for us.”
One of the few mistakes the Eagles made during the two-day tourney was not instinctively throwing their coaches into the pool after winning the championship the match. Dunn said the players were too excited and forgot, so she and assistants Garrett Hall (also the boys head coach) and Jed Little, “threw” themselves into the water after the game.
Joining tourney MVP Titus on the first team all-state were Rust, Cross, and Price. Marsden was a second-team selection.
“We have so many different players getting steals, scoring goals, and making assists,” Dunn said, attesting to the Eagle depth. “It’s the truest team effort. The Hillsboro coach even remarked to me after the game that he wished they could’ve made things much more difficult for us, but we just have too many weapons for them to cover.
“Overall, this team played to win. They demonstrated grit and tenacity throughout the state tournament, and they did it together as a completely united team. I’m one very proud coach.”
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