Sierra’s girls water polo team routed Sonora twice during the regular season on its way to claiming the first Valley Oak League title in program history, but the Timberwolves did not overlook this familiar foe on Thursday when they met again — this time in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III playoffs.
Coming off an upset win over sixth-seeded Roseville, the No. 11 Wildcats did not back down from their league rival in the physical quarterfinal held at Manteca High’s R. Stephen Winter Pool.
Spearheaded by the senior triumvirate of Keira Brink, Gianna Ramos and Mele Sanchez, No. 3 Sierra pulled away in the second half for an historic 14-8 win that sends it to the semifinals for the first time.
Sonora (11-14) scored the first goal of the game but did not lead again. The Timberwolves (21-8) held a narrow 6-5 halftime lead before gaining separation thanks to some clutch goalkeeping from Brink.
“I have to tip my hat to Sonora,” Sierra coach Lauren Koury said. “ I think they have progressively gotten better with every single game. “They've been working their tails off, and it shows, and they they're coming off a really good win.
“It was a fun game overall. It was nail-biting. It was going and back and forth. and our girls pulled through the end. It just was tough, because we haven't played a game in two weeks.”
The long break, which included a first-round bye, did not seem to affect Ramos, who scored 11 goals on 12 attempts. Two of those tallies came on penalty shots.
“Well, it's all because my team,” she said. “We all practice together, and we practice to the best of our ability. We push ourselves, so when we get to games we are able to perform the way we do.”
Kenidee Bauer (two assists), Stephanie Thomason (two steals) and Sanchez added one goal apiece. Sanchez also racked up three steals and three assists.
Maylone Suess (three steals, assist), Alina Gallegos (steal, block) and Liah Ronneburg (two assists, steal) registered two goals apiece to pace Sonora.
Brink totaled 17 saves, six of them coming in a near-shutout in the third quarter. Her only mistake was a brief lapse in concentration that allowed the Wildcats to score their only goal of the quarter. After drawing a foul near the half-distance line, Gallegos quickly fired at the Sierra goal and skipped it past the unsuspecting Brink.
“ I was not paying attention at all,” Brink said.
She made up for it at the end of the period with the play of the game. Sonora had a chance to cut into the Timberwolves’ lead when Lexie Erbe had an open look at point-blank range.
Brink deflected the shot and beat Erbe to the loose ball before launching it to Ramos on the other side of the pool for a breakaway goal with 28.5 seconds remaining. That widened Sierra’s lead to 9-6
“I'm always looking to counter, and they usually go in if it's pass to Gianna,” Brink said.
Sierra travels to Shingle Springs next Tuesday for its semifinal showdown with second-seeded Ponderosa (11-11), which held off No. 7 Beyer, 10-6. No. 1 Christian Brothers hosts No. 4 Buhach Colony in the other semifinal.
The championship round is on Saturday, Nov. 16 at Roseville Aquatic Center starting at 11:30 a.m.
“We’re super excited to even have the opportunity to get here, but the big thing for us is that we don’t want to just play one game and not make it through,” Koury said. “We wanted to make it to the semifinals, and we want to make it to the finals really, really bad. This was a fun win, but we need to get right back to work tomorrow morning.”
