Water Polo Splashes Brentwood

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

For a program that has won 10 straight City Section championships, there is only one thing left to do: Make it 11 in a row.

The 20 players on the Palisades Charter High School boys water polo team are determined not to let the Dolphins’ dynasty end on their watch, and after opening the season with a 9-7 win at Brentwood on August 30, they appear to have the talent to defend their title—again.

Palisades has captured every section title since 2012 (there were no playoffs in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic) and has also won back-to-back CIF Division III regional titles (and three total) in that time span under head coach Adam Blakis, who took his team south to Long Beach for the Poly tournament last weekend.

Although the Dolphins suffered three defeats, they played stiff competition and will do the same this weekend when they try to defend their title at the Malibu Classic where they went 4-0 last year.

During their City streak, which is up to 40 consecutive playoff wins, the Dolphins have played a West Valley League team in the finals every year. It could happen again as Granada Hills, Birmingham and Cleveland look to be the main challengers.

This year’s roster features seniors Avery and Owen Grant, Gavin Robinson, Jackson Searle, Charlie Shortt, Ariay Hayempour, Bodhi Sahakian, Alexander Petrosov, and Jordan Zaman; juniors Logan Mirzadeh, Charlie Speiser, Ronan Suarez, Benjamin Mokhtar, Ilan Ahdout, Paul Kamenker, Sherwin Hazany, Ian White, Shiva McIntosh and Bruno Martinez; and sophomore Sean Ellis.

Owen Grant emerged as a scoring machine last fall, but a 2023 title run will depend on finding a replacement for goalie John Possman, who graduated in June.

Palisades’ varsity schedule includes non-league road games against El Segundo (September 14), Poway (September 21 at 11 a.m.) and Rancho Bernardo (September 21 at 2 p.m.), the South Bay Invite (October 29 to 30) in El Segundo and the Ocean View Tournament in Huntington Beach (October 12 to 14).

Western League play begins September 18 against University at Maggie Gilbert Aquatic Center. The City championship game is scheduled for 6 p.m. November 8 at LA Valley College.