DOWNEY - The Warren High School boys' water polo team has finished their 2012 season with an overall record of 16-11 and league record of 3-2.The Bears qualified as the San Gabriel Valley League No. 3 entry for the C.I.F. playoffs but were defeated by Sunny Hills 11-10 on Tuesday in a wild card game at La Mirada Splash. The Bears played very well leading up to their C.I.F. wild card game against Sunny Hills. The Bears defeated Whitney 16-2 on Oct. 16, Pacifica 18-12 on Oct. 17, Millikan 14-13 on Oct. 18, Paramount 14-3 on Oct. 23 and Gahr 11-4 on Oct. 30. The Bears were certainly getting ready for the playoffs to start. Bear co-captain Jonathan Iglesias finished the season with 126 goals and co-captain David Romero finished with 61 goals. Oscar Orozco finished the season with 46 goals, Johnny Bautista had 33 goals, Micah Lopez had 15 goals and Jordan Galvez added 14 goals. Leon Yao won 80% of his sprints and scored eight goals, Reynaldo Hernandez scored eight goals, Nick Waugh scored five goals and Sergio Gonzalez and Guillermo Mora each added one goal for the Bears. Bear goalkeeper Juan Sixtos had eight saves against Sunny Hills and finished the season with 188 saves after filling in for injured goalkeeper Bernabe Perez. Coach Nichols concluded by saying that "this team has grown together this season and they often refer to their passion for the sport and the passion for teammates as 'brotherhood.' They often will cheer that prior to the start of a game. I am proud of how far they have come and how hard they have worked. The team works well together and they communicate better than any other team I have coached." Coach Nichols will now turn his attention to the swim season and get ready for next year.

********** Published: November 8, 2012 - Volume 11 - Issue 30