After a comeback win in the finale of the Los Padres League tournament against Cabrillo on Nov. 3, Nipomo High’s water polo team rushed head coach Justin Jewell, sending him into the Paul Nelson pool, fully clothed.
It was a fitting dénouement to a thrilling season for the Titans, who finished unbeaten in the league and won the championship outright, marking two firsts in the history of the program.
Jewell, in his fifth year as the team’s head coach, said the perfect season didn’t come completely as a surprise.
“I took a look at some of the incoming athletes, and this group of seniors and a few select juniors we eyed, and kind of knew this was going to happen,” he said. “Once I got them to believe it was possible, it’s been pretty much a downhill slope to ride.”
The Titans finished the league schedule 6-0 and ranked first in their division for much of the season. Jewell said the accomplishment was something he and his boys could be proud of for a long time to come.
“It definitely brings a lot of amazing feelings, not just for myself, but for the whole school,” Jewell said. “To be one of those teams that puts a ‘first’ up, it’s quite special for these boys, their parents, and the community.”
Nipomo Athletic Director Laurie Decker called the Titans’ first league title a “proud moment” for the school, and expressed gratitude to the coaching staff and players for putting the program on the map.
“We’re building something that’s going to last for many, many years—hopefully generations,” she said. “We couldn’t be prouder of them. They’ll get a banner up in the gym with their names on it that’ll stay there until the end of time.”
In the school’s 10th year of existence, and ninth in competitive varsity sports, Decker said the outcome was the combined result of years of building a solid foundation by Jewell, and a bit of good timing.
“A lot of this has to do with this very special, unique group of young men that were all together at the same time that melded together to build something really special,” she said. “That’s what makes them fun to watch.”
With a roster including 10 seniors, and returning an entire starting lineup from a team that finished second in the league and third in CIF last year, many people expected the Titans to be a force in 2011, as long as they stayed healthy. The heart of the team, a core group of seven seniors, has played every game together since they were freshmen, even during the summers.
“We’ve had 4 1/2 years of always being together,” said senior driver Brennan Bryant. “It finally came down to this: league champs. It feels awesome. It’s the first ever, and our names will be remembered forever. It’s a great accomplishment.”
Down 5-2 against Cabrillo in the second quarter of the season-ending match in Santa Maria, hopes of an unbeaten season looked tenuous for the Titans. However, Nipomo took control in the second half, winning handily by a final score of 13-6. While the victory was satisfying, the players agreed that their hardest-fought game of the year came against Arroyo Grande in September. The Titans pulled out the 10-9 win then, the first time in school history they’d ever beaten their cross-town rival.
Other highlights of the Titans’ history-making season included two midseason tournaments against top competition in the Los Angeles area, where Nipomo finished in second and fourth out of more than 20 teams. The Titans downed all their Division-7 opponents and lost in the championship to a Division-5 team, Poly of Pasadena.
Senior utility player Marc Baker, one of the team’s leading goal scorers, said pulling off a flawless season in league showed that all the hard work the team did during the year paid off. He said the tournament experience would help further the Titans’ chances in CIF, where they could end up in rematches against familiar foes.
“This year we didn’t get to play Santa Ynez at all,” Baker said. “With CIF, we’ve played all those teams,
and so we know what to expect and how to play.”
The Titans ended the year ranked first in the CIF standings for Division 7 and are scheduled to take on the winner of the Westminster-Cathedral wildcard match on Nov. 10 at home. Though the players don’t expect the postseason to be easy, they like their chances of winning it all.
“As long as we keep playing the way we’ve been playing, we can have great success,” Bryant said. “We can go all the way as long as we stay close as a team, work as a team, and play just as hard as we always have. We have the background to do it, so why not?”
Still soaked from head to toe from his celebratory dunking following the Cabrillo game, Jewell beamed like a proud father with eyes on the future.
“It’s a wonderful feeling. I really don’t have the words to describe it. It’s an overpowering emotion of joy,” he said.
“It’s their team,” he added. “I’m just here to coach it.”
Staff Writer Jeremy Thomas practices eggbeaters in the office. Contact him at jthomas@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Nov 10-17, 2011.
