The trio of local Channel League boys water polo squads capped off the annual Santa Barbara Invitational on Saturday at Elings Aquatic Center and San Marcos.
Dos Pueblos and San Marcos clashed for a non-league matchup and the Chargers came out on top, before ultimately falling in the fifth-place game. Meanwhile, the Royals won their seventh-place matchup.
Across town, the Dons rounded out their tournament by splitting a doubleheader in the consolation bracket.
Dos Pueblos
The Chargers used a fast start to pull out a 9-8 victory over their crosstown rival Royals on Saturday morning to advance to the fifth-place matchup.
Dos Pueblos outscored San Marcos 4-1 in the opening quarter to build an early lead. The Royals bounced back with a 3-1 second quarter, but the Chargers held a slim 5-4 advantage into the break.
The Dos Pueblos defense stepped up in the second half while the offense did just enough to maintain the one-goal lead all the way to a 9-8 win.
Lucas Neushul was the Chargers’ leading scorer with three goals, while Eli Carnaghe and Channing Wigo scored twice apiece. Adam Gelman and Ben Fuhrer accounted for the rest of the scoring with one goal each.
Koa Zertuche had a strong day in the cage, recording two of his eight total blocks in the final 18 seconds of the game to secure the win.
As for the Royals, Will Stuart led the scoring effort with three goals and Christian Yonker scored twice. Jake Magid also had a strong day defensively, while Brandon Lee recorded six saves and four steals.
Later in the day, Dos Pueblos fell behind early and couldn’t recover in a 13-11 loss to Carlsbad in the fifth-place matchup.
Carlsbad raced out to a 3-0 lead after the first quarter and held a comfortable lead throughout the game en route to the win.
Neushul paced the Charger offense with four goals, while Carnaghe and Aricin Marshall each scored twice. Wigo, Fuhrer and Ty Abel ended the weekend with one goal apiece.
San Marcos
Following their tight loss to Dos Pueblos, the Royals were dropped into the seventh-place matchup against San Clemente.
San Marcos and San Clemente went back and forth in another tightly contested game, which the Royals eventually pulled out by a score of 14-13 to secure seventh place in the tournament.
Stuart and Yonker shared the team-high in scoring with four goals apiece, while Cole Racich scored twice. Kai Heeps, Ryder Wilson, Jack Kramer and Magid all scored once.
Lee ended the second game of the day with six saves and one steal.
Santa Barbara High
The Dons split their final two games of the weekend on Saturday at San Marcos.
Santa Barbara began the day with an 11-5 win over Redlands EV, thanks in part to a six-goal, three-steal performance by Calvin Nelley.
Lorenzo Russell also contributed on both ends of the pool with three goals and three steals. West Graham and Paolo Borgioli rounded out the scoring with one goal apiece.
Defensively, Oliver Kelly had five steals and held the Redlands leading scorer to zero goals and Mason Walsh tallied nine saves.
The Dons then brought the weekend to a close with a 14-8 loss to Bellarmine High.
Russell had three goals and two exclusions earned, while Sam Walker and Jack Fullbeck recorded a goal and a steal each.
Santa Barbara High will host Righetti on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m.