Lady Knights Strive For A Winning Edge In Water Polo
By Jack Danilewicz
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Del.icio.usWith four games remaining in the regular season, Ted Norris places the “magic number” at three for his Castle girls water polo team.
Not that they mind being in the “must-win” mode. No Castle water polo team has ever made the OIA playoffs, so they are reveling in the moment. The schedule - which could be a playoff in its own right - has them playing Aiea, Kalani, Kalaheo and West power Kapolei.
“To have our first winning season would be phenomenal,” said Norris, noting that Castle would have a 6-5 record if it could win three of its last four,“and we’re three wins away.”
Whether or not they make post-season, they’ll be able to say they were battle-tested, having undergone their share of pressure-packed encounters, most notably a 7-6 loss to Kaiser April 2 and a 19-11 win over McKinley only three days earlier in a game in which Castle led only 11-10 through the first three quarters. The Knights also dropped a hard-fought 6-3 decision to highly regarded Leilehua along the way.
“Even our wins were not necessarily easy,” Norris admitted of the growing parity in the OIA.“Every opponent has the ability to beat anyone.A mental lapse or lapse in judgment in a game, and the goals can come so quickly it can be hard to come back when you’re down.You have to play intelligently and with emotion.
“This team has shown a lot of composure. Even when they’ve been down, they’ve been supportive of each other.”
Castle’s strength this spring, in Norris’ view, has been its veteran leadership with Katie Norris, Chanelle Spencer, Starlani Kahumoku and Lauren Tiffany all having strong senior seasons. The foursome serve as team captains.
“The four seniors are what I call our ‘four horsemen,’” said Norris, in reference to the famous backfield at Notre Dame that popularized the term.“They all play the game with energy and composure. They know how to play.”
Spencer’s impact as goalkeeper has been among the team’s top individual story lines. She returned to the program this season after having taken a year off. “Her strength is her leadership ability,“Norris said. “She communicates well, and she’s a good role model. She had a phenomenal game against Kaiser. It was a real tough game to lose.”
On the offensive end, Katie Norris and sophomore Nicole Sukuda have provided much of the scoring punch with a team-leading 16 goals apiece heading into last weekend.
“Katie’s biggest strength is knowing when to shoot,” Norris said of his daughter, who had 10 goals in the win over McKinley.“She’s hitting the corners for the first time instead of just shooting at the goalie. That is something that comes with maturity and experience.
“We’re very excited about Nicole and looking forward to having her for two more years,” he added of Sukuda.“She’s fast, she’s smart, and she understands the game. Usually sophomores are still learning, but she had this picked up as a freshman. She leads us or is in second in all (statistical) categories.”
Norris labels Ocean Radke as"our other super sophomore.“Last year’s goalkeeper, she was able to move to the field with the return of Spencer in net.
“She’s all-around. Her strength is that she really understands where to be. She’s already scored 11 goals, which is second behind Katie and Nicole.”
Next up for the Knights is a 4 p.m. game Wednesday at Kaiser against Aiea, followed by a game at 10:15 a.m. Saturday at Kalani. Castle’s aforementioned games with Kapolei and Kalaheo will be played April 15 and 25, respectively.
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