The Santa Barbara High boys water polo team defeated Long Beach Wilson 8-7 in a roller-coaster of a game before running into Villa Park in the ninth-place game of the South Coast Tournament, which it lost 11-6.
Against Long Beach Wilson, the Dons were led by Alec Linz and Nick Johnson who had two goals each.
Santa Barbara started the game well, but gave up five unanswered goals in the second quarter. The Dons responded in the third quarter with five goals of their own, and held Long Beach Wilson to just two goals in the second half.
Linz put the game winner away in the fourth quarter.
“We responded really well after a really poor quarter, then played some great defense in the second half,” head coach Mark Walsh said.
In the second game, Team USA youth player BJ Churnside dominated the Dons and led Villa Park to an 11-6 win despite two goals each from Evan Robertson and Preston Schlagel.
Goalie Gio Goggia, who was called up from JV due to the regular goalie being out due to illness, finished the day with 16 saves.
Santa Barbara hosts Buena in its Channel League opener on Tuesday.
