La Jolla High water polo: First Open Division title result of ‘confidence, development’

From left Cameron Ravanbach assistant Cole Martinez back to camera and head coach Tom Atwell celebrate in the pool after La Jolla s first Open Division boys water polo title on Nov with a - win over Cathedral Catholic Photo by Ed Piper Special to La Jolla Village News LA JOLLA Both Dexter Black and Tor Martin core starters on La Jolla High School s CIF Open Division champion boys water polo club have older brothers who starred in the campaign and failed to win the golden ring the open title My older brother Soren s group thought they had the best organization and they didn t win the section title recalls Tor He narrated me Good luck but he didn t think we would win this year The center who plays from the post right in front of the goal on both offense and defense reported it was good to show him that the group from coach Tom Atwell could scale the mountain The present edition of the Vikings downed Cathedral Catholic the top-seeded unit coming into the playoffs - in an exhilarating Nov upset that led to students joining the players in the pool after the buzzer sounded I knew it was coming says Dexter feet inches tall scorer extraordinaire and fellow All-CIF First Teamer with Tor After I made the penalty shot with seconds left I saw guys taking off their shirts and handing their cellphones to other people I knew they were ready It was Atwell s the coach has taught AP European History at the coastal school for years and La Jolla s first Open Division championship La Jolla won a Division title back in but that pales compared to the open title over giants and rivals the Dons and before that crosstown Bishop s The Vikings would invariably fall in the playoffs among the elite three but not this time Confidence and advancement Dexter La Jolla s leading scorer a lefty boils down the difference between last year s squad and this squad Tor named for the god of thunder Thor agrees The band had countless of the same players but a year older a year more mature and stronger But also the mindset was different We had certain flaws we had to fix in Dexter continued Stepping into roles with more responsibility defender Nate Thomson a senior and Henry Glenister another southpaw scorer alongside Dexter developed before fans eyes Nate in our house we call him the dog says Dexter four years younger than his brother Kiefer who now plays at the Naval Academy He does all the dirty work and gets none of the credit winning the sprint defending being a top passer Glenister has bloomed on the - side the imaginary rectangular box in water polo has the - side to the far left the - side to the far right and - in the middle delivering as the Vikings second prolific scorer to Dexter Goalkeeper George Gayner also senior has been no slouch He had numerous key saves in the quarterfinals against Poway and the semifinals against Bishop s and again was an impregnable bulwark against Cathedral in the finals