Two area teams earn berths to UIL state tourney
Outside the gleaming year-old Southwest ISD Aquatic Center, a line of eager spectators took shape, their collective anticipation palpable as they awaited the start of the Region IV water polo tournament Saturday.
The melodies of the Southwest High School mariachi band enveloped the area, setting the stage for the intense atmosphere that would determine which teams would advance to the state tournament.
And both the Brandeis girls’ and Boerne Champion boys’ water polo teams gave the crowd a show.
Senior Grace Goldhammer scored seven goals to lead the Broncos (27-4) to a 17-10 victory over Brennan, advancing Brandeis to the state tournament, Oct. 28 at Josh Davis Natatorium
“(Grace) typically has half or most of our goals,” Brandeis coach Megan Perez said. “I’m pretty sure she hit her 200th career goal in just two seasons. She’s quick, she can explode, she can move. She just started playing this sport in her freshman year. So, all of her development has been in four years. She’s incredibly coachable and on deck; she’s the nicest girl you would ever meet. But in the water, she just attacks.”
Goldhammer said she’d been waiting for a chance to return to the state tournament again after losing in the semifinal last season.
“I’ve been working hard all season and working on my outside shots mostly because I’m normally a driver,” Goldhammer said. “So I’ve been doing that, and that really helped this game.”
Goldhammer started training for this season last summer when she traveled to California to train with two water polo teams.
Perez, who’s also Goldhammer’s swim coach, said her motherly-like relationship with Goldhammer has contributed to both of their success in only the second year of UIL sanctioned water polo.
“It’s not only correcting her in the pool, whether it’s swimming or water polo, but it’s helping her out with life whether it’s not just feeling well or relationships, or class,” Perez said. “She’s incredibly smart, taking all AP classes. (I’m) helping her balance the classroom and in the pool.”
Goldhammer had help from her senior teammate Camila Diarte, who was second on the team with three goals.
Diarte had a goal in three different periods.
“I think with the help of my team, I was able to bounce off that energy,” Diarte said. “This is a brand new team, but we have very good chemistry. So even if I’m not able to get a shot off, I could pass it off, and they would be able to score.”
Seven different players scored for the Broncos.
“It’s super cool that we have a lot of depth on our team,” Diarte said. “We’ve been playing together for like four to three years. So a couple of girls that are on the comeup, like Jordan (Svatek) and Sophia (Barickman), are really good, and I think they’ll be our top players next year.”
Diarte thought the Brennan defense was keying in on her and Goldhammer, allowing other teammates to capitalize.
“I think everyone thinks that we only have the top two girls on our team, but in reality, it’s the whole entire team and being able to bounce off each other and have that chemistry and communication we were able to win today,” Diarte said.
Perez said that winning a state championship would be monumental for the growth of water polo in San Antonio.
“I think winning a state championship is big for our team, but it’s also huge for our city,” Perez said. “Water polo in San Antonio is still developing, and Houston and Dallas and even Austin, they don’t look at us as a threat. So we are still preparing, and we are going to go out there and fight for four quarters and see where it brings us.”
Brandeis will be joined in the state tournament by Boerne Champion, which defeated Clark 20-15 in the boys final. Will Harrison scored 11 goals to lead the Chargers, who are now 25-3.
The Chargers matchup with Clark was intense from the start, with Champion trailing 4-3 after the end of the first period. Then Harrison caught fire, scoring four of the team’s seven goals in the second period to give Champion a 10-8 halftime lead.
“It felt good,” Harrison said. “My teammates were finding me. They were looking for me up the pool because they knew I was making my shots, and it really helped us out.”
Harrison knew that he could attack the Clark defense. He scored a plethora of times with a backhand shot, where he didn’t have to look at the net to score.
Will’s older brother, Bexon Harrison, said they’ve been practicing the backhand shot for a while.
“I saw some older kids when I was younger,” Bexon said. “I saw them goofing around and doing that shot, and I thought it was really cool. So a lot of us have tried to put it in our bag.”
Bexon said he’s seen the team grow a lot since losing in the state championship last season.
“We learned from it, and we were able to switch our strategy to find out what works best,” Bexon said.
But even though the Chargers got the victory, it doesn’t mean their week didn’t start out bad. Champion’s school water heater broke, leaving them without a place to practice.
“We braced a little bit of cold water,” Champion coach Scott Slay said. “We just changed our practice schedule to where it was hotter and warmer in the evenings. It’s cold in the morning. So we just kind of worked around that a little bit. And luckily, Alamo Heights was nice enough to let us come in and practice last night, and we opened with them. So I can’t say enough about Norm Collins, and knowing he’s going to play us the next day, letting us use their pool to practice is a classy move.”
Slay, who is in his first year with Champion, said winning the regional final made the move to San Antonio worth it. But with the state championship within reach, Slay has grander aspirations for water polo in the San Antonio area.
“Honestly, my main focus is to grow a water polo in San Antonio,” Slay said. “That’s my main focus. That’s what I do. So this is just kind of step one in the process of building the sport. I’m a builder, and I want to build it for the whole area.”