Boys’ water polo has begun with a splash and is underway. Nearly mid way through the 2009 fall season, the team has boosted to a winning record and impressive performances in their multiple tournament appearances.
Beginning early in August, the team shot out of the gate with multiple wins at the River Rat invitational and a big win against Troy High school.
“When we ran over Troy that put a lot of confidence in our team and to the new kids on the team, although our team is mainly upperclassmen, it never hurts to gain confidence early,” said senior James Held.
Recently the team has been falling well short of their opponents with consecutive losses to Troy and crosstown rivals Groves.
“We lost talent this off season,” said team manager Juliana Bada. “To be honest this team has so much more of a bond and heart that I think the talent loss doesn’t even effect them, the team is great and a close knit family.”
With mass success in the previous years, boys water polo has become a division power house and started facing much more difficult opponents, which is slowly dimming their chances of repeating last year’s great performance.
Early in the season the team had a big district tournament game against high ranked and rival Walled Lake Central, where a close game ensued to the final minutes where the Maples fell to a twogoal loss.
“We won our first few games but then we lost three in a row. For a team being third in the district, we should be playing better especially going into the post season,” said junior Drew Bernard.
With only three invitationals left, a couple of tournaments, and few matches, the team show promise with talent of seniors Alex Wood and James Held combined with the superb efforts of junior Jim Lafave.
“We are a stacked team of heart and talent,” said senior Alex Wood if we can keep it together. “I see no reason why we won’t be bringing home the district title.”
