Locals come up short

BURBANK HIGH — Just around the midway mark of Pacific League competition, the Hoover and Burbank high boys’ water polo teams are heading in opposite directions.

It’s not the way it’s been in recent years.

After years of struggling, the Tornadoes have begun to see their patience pay off by building with a core of players who have spent the past few years competing together. The Bulldogs, who have participated in the postseason the past couple of seasons, are in a partial rebuilding mode.

Hoover took another gigantic step toward qualifying for the CIF Southern Section Division VI playoffs Tuesday afternoon with a convincing 17-6 league victory at Burbank.

The Tornadoes (9-1, 3-0 in league) received five goals apiece from Tigran Edinchikyan, Zoree Karibyan and Hakop Kaplanyan to rout the inexperienced Bulldogs (4-14, 1-2).

“We are now a different team than in years past,” said Hoover assistant Matt Jung, who also played for the Tornadoes before graduating in 2004. “It’s a culmination of hard work over the last couple of years.”

Hoover never trailed. It got five goals during a two-minute stretch late in the first quarter to grab a 7-2 lead.

Burbank never had a response to Hoover, often turning the ball over, which led to counter-attacks by the Tornadoes. The Bulldogs have yielded 36 goals in their last two matches against Crescenta Valley and Hoover.

“With us, it’s a mental approach,” said Burbank Coach Carlos Pelayo. “The first half was a blowout, but we were closer to them in the second half.

“We’ve got to start off a lot faster because we can’t continue to play catch-up. It’s going to have to be about making good decisions on offense and defense.”