Bucs water polo sees its season come to an end

Mon, May 11, 2009    to del.icio.us

No. 10-ranked Jenison made Grand Haven's stay in the water polo districts a short one on Friday at Rockford High School.

"We had advanced past districts the last couple years and were looking forward to possibly doing it again, but we ran into a tough Jenison squad," Grand Haven coach Adam Briggs said after his squad's 11-5 loss. "The girls gave a great effort and I was proud of them, but our passing and shooting weren't there."

The two rivals were deadlocked at 2-all 20 seconds into the second period, but the Wildcats closed the half on a 4-0 run.

"That was the turning point right there," Briggs said. "We couldn't make up that four-goal decifit."

Grand Haven played even with Jenison in the third and trailed 8-4, but couldn't make up any ground in the fourth.

Junior Emily Dean closed her outstanding season with three goals, giving her 56 during the year. Alicia Tooker and Katie Martin added single goals for the Bucs.

Erin Page and Sylvia Meyer drew two exclusions apiece, while Kinsey Damaska and Tooker each tallied four steals.

Briggs said the Bucs' 7-16 final record "boggles the mind," because he felt his squad was much more competitive than what their record indicated.

"We felt we could compete with even the top teams and really, this is the first year we could say that," Briggs said. "But we'll have Dean and Page coming back — two of our biggest players. We're excited for the future and hoping we only continue to improve."