By Pete Borello

Photo by Jim Sandman, Special to the Town Crier

Local water polo team captures tourney

After more than a month of taking their lumps against older, more experienced players, members of West Bay Water Polo’s 14-and-under boys team finally got a chance to challenge players their own age at the Maui Invitational.

The Los Altos-based club team took full advantage of the opportunity, capturing the tournament championship July 30.

“Most of them played with West Bay’s 16-and-under team until this, and Maui’s been in the back of their minds,” coach Jon Wiener said. “It was their turn to do what other teams have been doing to them all summer.”

West Bay dominated the 25-team tournament, posting a 5-0 record and winning most of its games in decisive fashion.

West Bay’s closest match was the final, which it won 9-6 over Rainbow of Oahu. Along the way, West Bay walloped teams by scores of 17-5 and 14-3.

“It was really good,” Wiener said of the four-day, round-robin tournament. “We got to play everyone and all the players contributed.”

Three West Bay players - Ryan Stanley, Jimmy Sandman and Nick Westrum - were named to the all-tournament team.

“Ryan would have been the tournament MVP, were there such an award,” Wiener said of versatile field player Stanley, who spent most of the summer practicing with West Bay’s 18-and-under squad.

Sandman was “better than the other 14-and-under goalies” in the invitational, the coach said, while Westrum “gave us a real threat at hole set.”

Wiener added that his brother, Matt, Michael Orton and Nathan Patkay all could have been all-tournament selections as well.

Also contributing to West Bay’s title run were Rob Cameron, Connor McColl, Cam Brocksen, Andrew Matthews, Zach Zwarenstein, Vahig Manugian, Adam Wilson, Ryan Louie, Gabe Shapiro and Miles Prowse.

“I was proudest of the improvement I saw in their understanding of team water polo,” said Jon Wiener, who also praised the team’s work ethic and its ability to counterattack and play defense.

After the tournament, West Bay traveled to Honolulu to scrimmage one of the top teams on the island.

“We held our own against a very good team,” Jon Wiener said. “… We played our best in Honolulu, in the last 20 minutes of the last practice of the season, and it was a nice note to end the summer.”

The Hawaii trip marked the first time a team from West Bay has traveled out of the area to compete.

“We’ve been looking forward to going since February when we planned it,” Wiener said, “and everything went smoothly.”