Dolphins ‘Splash’ Finals Party

PaliHi water polo repeats with 11-6 victory over El Camino Real

It started in the waning moments of last Wednesday’s City Section boys water polo final… barely perceptible at first but growing louder by the second. During a timeout with 54 seconds left and the outcome long decided the chant grew to a deafening crescendo: “Luka! Luka! Luka!”

P-House fans were paying homage to Palisades High senior hole setter Luka Kosanin, who scored eight goals to lead the Dolphins to a second straight City Section water polo championship with an 11-6 rain-soaked victory over El Camino Real at Contreras High.

“It feels great,” Kosanin said. “This is the way we wanted to go out — as champions.”

After spotting the second-seeded Conquistadores (16-3) a quick 2-0 lead, Palisades began to seize control. Kosanin cut the Dolphins’ deficit in half by re-directing a pass from Zach Senator, then he tied it on a 6-on-5 situation. Kosanin tied it again 3-3 off an assist from fellow senior Alex Feizbakhsh in the second quarter and after Gabriel Feizbakhsh’s long shot gave Palisades its first lead, Kosanin drew a five-meter penalty and made the free shot to make it 5-3.

Top-seeded Palisades (26-2) entered the fourth quarter clinging to a 7-6 lead, but the “Core Four” veterans (the players who started on varsity when the program was started in 2011) were not about to panic.

“We always dominate the fourth quarter,” Alex Feizbakhsh said. “We saw them getting more and more tired and we took advantage. They couldn’t handle Luka. He had the hot hand so we kept on feeding him and he drew a kick out or scored.”

Kosanin skipped another penalty shot under the crossbar, then one-timed Alex Feizbakhsh’s soft pass to make it 9-6. He added two tip-ins to cap Palisades’ four-goal period, then led his teammates in one last post-game celebration — the highlight of which was throwing head coach Adam Blakis into the pool.

“Obviously, it feels great,” said goalie Jake Venckus, who made 12 saves. “Up until the fourth quarter it wasn’t my best game. I try to be the most vocal guy at all times. I have a different view than anyone else and after the first few minutes I saw we were dropping back and defending better.”

Patrick Huggins, another member of the Core Four who also captains the PaliHi swim team, was charged with marking Conquistadores leading scorer Jose Reinaldo Fernandez, a senior exchange student from Spain who had scored five goals in El Camino Real’s 12-9 semifinal victory over Birmingham. Huggins held the opposition’s sniper to one goal.

“That’s what’s great about this team — I don’t have to score,” Huggins said. “I’m more of the defensive guy, Luka is unstoppable on offense, Alex is great at finding lanes and getting open and of course Jake does his thing in goal.”

Huggins is confident that the Dolphins will be a championship contender again next year.

“The next wave of guys can actually be better than us because they’ll play together even more and they’re already so good — especially Zach [Senator] and Gabby [Feizbakhsh]. They have to put in the work, but if they do there’s no limit to how good they can be.”

The win was particularly gratifying for Blakis, who piloted the team into the playoffs its first year and to the City title last fall. After changing into dry clothes he was asked what was harder — winning the title initially or defending it.

“The first time was a lot harder,” Blakis said of last year’s 13-10 finals win against Birmingham. “We have more experience and we’re just plain better this year. It’s all about the journey and this has been a rewarding experience for me.”