Santa Barbara High boys water polo suffered a heartbreaking 18-17 quadruple-overtime loss to Hoover High in the second round of the CIF-SS Div. 3 playoffs on Tuesday in Santa Barbara.
The Dons cap off their 2025 campaign with an overall record of 19-14, including a fifth-place finish in a strong Channel League.
“The boys gave everything they had all game, just like they did all season,” Santa Barbara High head coach Mark Walsh said. “We played almost the whole season with about eight healthy players. What they accomplished this season is remarkable.”
Santa Barbara High got off to a strong start in Tuesday’s playoff battle, as goals by Lorenzo Russell, Paolo Borgioli and Oliver Kelly allowed the home team to build a 3-1 lead.
However, the Tornados came storming back with three unanswered goals to take the lead at 4-3 with 2:50 left in the half.
Russell then took over down the stretch of the opening quarter, dominating on the inside and firing three crucial goals from close range to give his team a 6-5 lead heading into the second.
The second quarter was lower scoring, as Hoover outscored the Dons 2-1 in the first five minutes to tie the game up at 7-7. The SB goal came courtesy of West Graham off an assist from Jack Fullbeck.
Russell came through once again in the final minutes of the half, scoring on an impressive shot as the shot clock expired to give the Dons an 8-7 halftime lead.
Santa Barbara came out of the break hot, as Graham scored back-to-back goals in the first few minutes of the third quarter to extend the lead out to 10-7.
Hoover responded once again with another 3-0 run to tie the game up at 10-10 with 2:52 on the clock.
The two teams then exchanged goals in those final 2:52, with Santa Barbara’s goals coming from Kelly and Borgioli, to send it into the fourth tied up at 12-12.
The fourth quarter was a back-and-forth affair, beginning with an outside goal from Kelly before Hoover came back with back-to-back goals to take a 14-13 lead with 4:49 to play.
Two minutes later, the Dons evened the score back up after drawing a penalty and Kelly burying the shot.
Santa Barbara grabbed the lead at the 1:27 mark thanks to another impressive goal by Russell, but the Tornados answered with 35 seconds remaining in regulation to tie it up at 15-15.
Russell ended the game with a team-high six goals to cap off a stellar Santa Barbara High career.
Hoover had one last shot at the buzzer for the win, but Dons’ goalie Mason Walsh calmly secured the save to send the game into overtime.
“We lost one of our top defenders and scorers in the second quarter and lost another starter in the fourth period,” Walsh said. “We ran out of enough big bodies to defend their top players.”
The Tornados opened the scoring in the first overtime period to take a 16-15 lead, but Santa Barbara punched back thanks to a goal by Borgioli as the shot clock expired to tie the game at 16-16 heading into the second overtime.
Both sides exchanged empty possessions for the first two minutes before the Dons broke the drought on a goal by Fullbeck to take a 17-16 lead with 35 seconds left on the clock.
Just as Santa Barbara seemed on its way to the quarterfinal round, Hoover tied the game up in the final 10 seconds of the second overtime period to keep its season alive and send it into sudden-death triple overtime.
The first sudden-death period in which the first goal won the game went scoreless, as both defenses tightened up to keep the score at 17-17 heading into a fourth overtime.
The fourth overtime played out much like the third, as the two sides flexed their muscles defensively and kept the game tied for the first two minutes.
However, the Tornados found an opening late and took advantage, scoring with 37 seconds on the clock for their 18th goal of the night and the hard-fought victory.
Hoover will now take on Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks in the CIF-SS Div. 3 Quarterfinals on Friday.
The Santa Barbara High duo of Borgioli and Graham turned in strong performances on the offensive end with three goals and four assists apiece. Meanwhile, Kelly tallied four goals and a pair of assists in the loss.