Marauders, East face off against Blazers, West

On the surface, tonight’s Tulare-Kings All-Star boys’ water polo game should be a relaxed affair, featuring the top polo players from East and West Yosemite leagues.

Take a closer look, however, and this game may very well be dubbed “Monache vs. Golden West: Part II.”

Division II Valley champions Monache will send six of its players to the East All-Star squad against the West team and its contingency of Valley runner-ups, Golden West.

“They’ll probably be pissed about the loss,” Monache’s Nic Lalanne said of the 11-8 beatdown the Marauders administered in the title game back in November.

The Blazers can thank members of the Visalia Downtown and Exeter Kiwanis clubs for a second crack at redemption, though East coach Brandon Weaver and his Marauders intend to take it all in stride.

“We’ll probably end up having more fun than they will,” Weaver said. “(The game) is really just to recognize these guys as kind of a ‘thank you’ to the seniors.”

But Darren Roan says his compadres will show up if the other side does.

“It depends on how serious they’ll be,” Roan said. “If they try hard to win, we won’t play around.”

That is, if they can swim long enough.

“We’re not in shape at all,” said Roan, who was on the school’s swim team this spring but still admits being winded after one of the All-Stars’ two practices last week. “I think I can make one counter attack.”

Even Weaver worries whether his squad can play defense.

“We’ll just be happy to get to the other side of the pool in time,” he said.

All kidding aside, Weaver is confident his boys will give the crowd a show.

“They can play well enough together,” he said. “They’ve played long enough that they can make decisions based off whatever plays they’re given.”

Roan is excited about playing alongside some of the Valley’s best, including a trio from Porterville — Titus Moore, Dillan Walley and Kevin Marchiando — as well as a threesome from Tulare Western.

“It’s kind of fun because all the people you’ve been playing against, you’re like, ‘Oh, he’s good,’” said Roan, who plans to walk with Cal Poly’s club polo team. “And now you get to use him on your side.”

Devin Luis, who will attend Porterville College this fall, took a bittersweet approach to what will likely be his last water polo game of his career.

“I’m glad they have one now, but I wish they had one earlier,” he said. “It should be a pretty tough game.”

Boys’ Water polo all-star rosters

East West

Coach: Brandon Weaver Coach: Rick Nordell

Dillan Walley (Porterville) Dustin Castillo (Hanford)

Marc Wolfe (Monache) Jarrett Dutra (Hanford)

Devin Luis (Monache)   Garrette Machado (Hanford)

Darren Roan (Monache)     Nate Fravor (Lemoore)

Josh Woods (Monache)     Michael Grove (Lemoore)

Kevin Marchiando (Porter.) Brad Hamar (Golden West)

Titus Moore (Porterville)     Ethan Holtman (Golden West)

Jack Pickett (Tulare West.) Jake Guinn (Golden West)

Jake Cody (Tulare Western) Brett Lewis (Golden West)

Garret Soares (Tulare West.)   Graham Wickliffe (El Diam.)

Blake Meneses (Tulare West.)  Jon Donald (El Diamante)

Nic Lalanne (Monache)   Alan Nevins (El Diamante)

Patrick Burns (Monache)   Alex Kazimer (El Diamante)