3-A Championship : Tillmans, Evans Lead the Way as El Dorado Defies Defense

El Dorado High School, relying on the scoring of John Evans and brothers Mike and Craig Tillman, built a three-goal halftime lead and held on to beat El Toro, 13-9, in the 3-A Southern Section water polo final Friday at Belmont Plaza Pool.

El Toro Coach Don Stoll had geared his defense toward stopping the Tillmans, co-MVPs in the Empire League. The plan worked . . . kind of.

The Tillmans combined for 6 goals , but their main contribution lay in drawing defensive pressure to themselves and away from their teammates.

Evans, who had five goals, scored three in the second period, sparking the Golden Hawks to a six-goal quarter and a 7-4 halftime lead.

“All year I’ve said he was my best shooter,” El Dorado Coach Tom Milich said of Evans. “He really zips the ball.”

In last season’s final, the Golden Hawks had led by three goals against Hacienda Heights Wilson before losing.

“It makes it a lot sweeter for a lot of people on this team,” Milich said. “We have four guys who were starters on that team. We really wanted this game so bad.”

The Golden Hawks stretched their lead to 10-6 by the end of the third quarter. When their lead had gone to 11-6 with just less than three minutes remaining, Milich instructed his team to go into a spread offense. But that tactic allowed the Chargers to score on two breakaway goals, cutting the El Dorado lead to 11-8.

“I made a mistake,” Milich said. “I told them to go into a spread, but I didn’t tell them what to do after they got into it.”

Having admitted his blunder, Milich laughed, still dripping from his obligatory dunk in the pool. On this night even mistakes were something to laugh at.