Boys Varsity Water Polo Down El Diamante 12-9 to Begin League Season

Boys Varsity Water Polo defeat the Miners to begin the start of their league season.

By: Lucas de Lima

VISALIA – With no love lost between the two schools, the Redwood Rangers Varsity Boys Water Polo team defeated the El Diamante Miners on Tuesday, September 26, with a score of 12 to 9.

The bleachers at the Frank Bell Community Pool were filled to the brim, with spectators willing to stand to catch a glimpse of the highly anticipated match-up between two of the best water polo programs in Visalia.

This contest marked the start of the EYL (East Yosemite League) season for Redwood, resulting in a crucial game to get on the right track towards the coveted EYL title.

Although the game ended on a positive note for the Rangers, it did not start that way. The Miners opened the game with a goal with less than two minutes in. Redwood answered back with two goals of their own, with a #3 Mitchell Dean, ’24, tap-in equalizing the Miners opening strike.

The Miners would then add another goal with 15 seconds left in the quarter to make the game 2-2 at the end of the first quarter.

The players knew heading into Tuesday night that the game was going to be tightly contested. #10 Jake Bettencourt, ’25, says, “The lead-up for this game was crazy. El D has been our rival a lot, last year we tied with them in league, then beat them in playoffs.”

The second quarter got off to a quick start, with the Rangers scoring first just 26 seconds in. The rest of the quarter would be a back-and-forth battle, with El Diamante adding 5 goals and Redwood adding 3, including two 5-meter shots by #5 Samuel Feierbach, ’25, and #4 David Ross, ’25 respectively.

Goalkeeper #1 Magnus Burgess, ’24, presence was felt with a sprawling stop to thwart the Miners chance at adding another goal to their tally with 2 minutes to go in the second quarter.

After 14 minutes of play, the score was 7 to 5 in favor of the Miners.

Although the Rangers were losing at the break, #9 Elijah Backlund, ’24, was proud of how his team performed. “I think the team performed a lot better than we have been doing. The first half started off great for our team, the best first half we’ve had so far I think this season,” Backlund says.

The Rangers came out of the halftime break hot, scoring 6 straight unanswered goals, beginning with a dagger with 4:26 left in the third quarter. The Miners had no answer for the Rangers flurry of goals in the third quarter, ending the period with 0 goals scored.

This left the game to be 11 to 7 in favor of Redwood at the end of the third quarter.

The fourth quarter would be heavily defensive, with multiple fouls called on both teams. The Miners would attempt a comeback, coming within 2 goals of the Rangers after 2 consecutive goals, with the score 11 to 9 in favor of the Rangers with 2:35 left. This attempt would be extinguished however, with a clever lob from #8 Tyson Phillips, ’26, with just over a minute to go officially deflated any hope of victory the Miners sideline.

The Rangers would then hold on to possession and burn the clock on their way to a well-deserved 12 to 9 triumph over their city rivals.

Notable players from the match for the Rangers include #16 Cody Burton, ’25, with three goals, and #13 Samuel Noricumbo, ’25, with two goals.

“I feel like we did really good, we definitely played to their level. We could do better, but I feel like all-around we played a great game,” says #12 Kelan Anderson, ’25.

Bettencourt also says, “I think we did really good, kind of nerve wrecking. We were down after the second quarter but then we pulled it back.”

The match was intense from start to finish, with many unseen jabs and hits being thrown by both sides. Anderson says, “It was a lot of fun. That’s what I love about water polo, is that you could beat up each other and then once you get out of the water you just shake hands.”

The Rangers will be looking to build off of this recent success when they face the Porterville Panthers in Porterville on Thursday, September 28.

Backlund says, “First league game, big win, it was huge. I think it’s just important to take what was positive in this game and onto the next game.”

Tags: rangers, rangers water polo, Redwood, redwood gigantea, redwood high school, redwood journalism, redwood rangers, redwood sports, rhs, rhs water polo, visalia ca