Furlman steals show in Panthers' blowout win

Granite Hills hosted traditional water polo powerhouse Porterville Tuesday night for the Grizzlies season finale.

Granite coach Drew Miller said his team didn’t even play up to par in a 19-1 loss.

“Worst game of the season,” Miller said. “Our last two games were letdowns because we had that end-of-the-season, let’s-get-it-over-with attitude.”

It showed as Porterville came out and ripped off six points in the first four minutes. The Panthers’ Mike Duncan powered the lead to 11-0 by halftime with four of his seven goals in the first half.

Titus Moore led the team with four assists, but the real story of the night belonged to Porterville senior Rickey Furlman, who played in his first game of the season and scored his first goal with 2:06 remaining in the fourth.

“He’s a player, but he’s been the team manager all season for us,” Porterville coach Greg Gillett said. “He’s worked his heart out to get into this game.”

The other Panthers repeatedly tried to set up plays for Furlman, who missed his first several shots. But Alec Macissac found Furlman left wide open on the left wing and lobbed him the ball, which Furlman buried in the back right corner of the net to the crowd’s cheers.

Eric Bartlett scored the lone goal for Granite early in the third.