Boys water polo: Redwood claims historic NorCal crown

The Redwood High boys water polo team earned its piece of history — and a measure of revenge — as the Giants used a huge second-quarter rally to secure the CIF Northern California boys water polo championship on Saturday.

Top-seeded Redwood scored eight goals in a row during the second and third quarters, but it still took a monumental defensive effort down the stretch to secure a 13-9 victory over No. 4 Clovis in the Division II championship at the University of the Pacific in Stockton.

The victory completes a trifecta for the Giants (27-6), who won the MCAL, North Coast Section and NorCal titles in the same season for the first time in school history.

Clovis (24-10) graduated just one player from last year’s squad, which eliminated Redwood, 10-9, in the 2024 NorCal D-II semifinals. The Giants, who graduated last year’s leading scorer in Ossie Joplin, used their improved scoring depth to turn the tables on the Cougars this time.

Junior Isaac Nikfar scored the game’s opener and led the Giants with four goals, while Jakob Engberg added three scores and two assists. Senior captain Charlie Poser and sophomore captain Storm Jackson each netted a pair of goals, while senior Tyler Mahabir and junior Maddox McClellan also scored.

“After a slow start, the boys fought for last year’s loss and for our seniors,” Redwood head coach Rudy Kardos said after the game. “Clovis fought hard as expected, but this year we were just better. Team effort. (I’m) super proud.”

Clovis senior Alexander Minton and junior Kannon Klement scored to give the Cougars a 2-1 lead after the first quarter. Despite attacking into the sun in the second quarter, the Cougars got a penalty goal from Klement and a goal from Ben Scott for a 4-1 lead.

Even as it seemed like the game might be slipping away from Redwood, Kardos preached patience to his players. Their patience paid off as they closed out the first half with a Herculean 5-0 run.

Poser shot the ball past Cougars goalkeeper Trey Alexander, who had 11 saves, and Nikfar scored on a penalty shot less than a minute later to start the Giants comeback.

Engberg, who did the dirty work in front of the cage, then took a short pass from McClellan and beat his man in front of the net for the tying goal. He followed up quickly with a shot to beat Alexander for the go-ahead goal, and the Giants never trailed again. McClellan added a shot to the far corner for a 6-4 lead with 2 seconds on the clock before halftime.

Redwood, as it has done all season, continued to press the advantage. Mahabir rifled in a power-play goal inside the near post to open the third quarter scoring. A goal on a penalty shot by Jackson and a catch-and-shoot from Nikfar extended Redwood’s 8-0 run.

Mahabir played a solid all-around game with three assists as he helped direct the transition game and added to a solid defensive effort, along with Jackson Monty and McClellan.

Clovis lost a significant piece of its arsenal in the third quarter when Scott picked up his third foul, but the Cougars still managed to rally for three goals in less than 2 minutes before the end of the quarter to prolong the drama.

Klement scored on a penalty shot a minute into the fourth quarter to cut Redwood’s lead to 9-8.

A goal by Poser, then a rifle shot from Nikfar gave the Giants some breathing room, 11-8, with 3:50 to go. Klement added his fourth goal of the game to keep the game close.

Jackson then launched a shot just past the outstretched fingers of Alexander with 2:25 to go, and Redwood’s defense tightened the screws on Clovis, which couldn’t get the ball past Malone again. Clovis took 10 shots on goal in the fourth quarter, most of which were stopped before getting to Malone. The keeper had 14 saves in his final game for the Giants.

Engberg beat Alexander on a fast break with 25 seconds left to play to wrap up the scoring.

“These guys are part of something special,” Kardos said after Redwood’s semifinal victory over St. Francis on Thursday.