Photos: Jackie Finlan
South Bay won the NorCal Invitational, a competition that drew the top high school clubs in the region, SoCal and Utah. The event is a precursor to a West Coast Championship, and the Spartans defeated Danville and Land Park on day one, and Provo 34-5 in Sunday’s final. Both South Bay and Provo (more to come on the Steelers) will head to the National Invitational Tournament [NIT] in Nashville.
South Bay coach Myron Mailo is in his first year with the U18 team, which was previously led by Emo Pula, now at Belmont Shore. Mailo had been leading South Bay’s U16 team, which only plays 7s in SoCal, and moved into the U18 role with his U16 players. The group knew it was a good 7s program but had a lot of questions to answer when entering the 15s sphere.
“We were a little skeptical about where we stood on the whole national level. We only had the opportunity to play Fallbrook, which has been dominating SoCal’s U18 division,” Mailo said. “We knew the Fullerton tournament was our first step to see if we were even on the same level of their play.”
South Bay defeated Fallbrook in that early-season outing, banked some confidence, and then looked toward the next test.
“In the back of our minds we knew we had to see NorCal and Utah, because that’s where the teams that beat Fallbrook [at the NIT] came from,” Mailo said. “That, to me, was the natural next step for us, to see if there was an opportunity to play in NorCal.”
Rugby NorCal girls commissioner Karen Chance watched South Bay at the Fullerton tournament and encouraged the Spartans to join the NorCal Invitational. It was a bit of an ask, considering South Bay had already committed to the NIT and was fundraising for Nashville, but the team couldn’t pass up this event.
The team boarded a bus Friday night and arrived in Livermore, Calif., at 9 a.m. for a 10 a.m. kickoff against Danville. Nevertheless, South Bay defeated the Lady Oaks 43-0 and got a leading performance out of prop Jayla Delia, who scored several tries.
“Danville just didn’t have the foot speed to keep up with her, or at least the forwards didn’t,” Myron said of the front row’s line-breaking success. “Size wise, they matched up, but speed wise – she has back speed and once she breaks through, she’s pretty much away against other forwards.”
That quarterfinal win set up a semifinal against Land Park, which had defeated Sacramento 26-5 in the Round of 8. A truly intense battle unfolded, but the Spartans just kept coming at the Harlequins, deploying an oppressive defense that stifled the otherwise lively and well connected Land Park offense. A 19-0 win followed.
“I like to throw out offensive statistics but defensively that’s what I’m most proud of,” Mailo said of the day-one shutouts. “Our young ladies sell out on defense and make it very difficult for opponents to gain any kind of yardage.”
Mailo pointed to No. 8 Zonaye Tupuola in terms of setting the tone defensively. The loose forward was making her return to the pitch after an injury sustained near Fullerton, and the squad is happy to have her back. She teams up with flyhalf Puni Skipps and fullback Siniva Mailo, the fastest player on the squad, in terms of keeping the pressure at a premium.
“We’re going to enjoy the victories today, go back and rest and get some nourishment so we’re fresh for tomorrow,” Mailo said at the end of day one. “Our objective here was to just test the waters and go all-out on the first game and see where the chips fell. So far, so good. We consider this tournament already a success but now we’re in the championship and so we’re going to go for it.”
On the other side of the bracket, Provo defeated Mother Lode 27-5 in the Round of 8 and then Fallbrook 5-0 in the semifinals. The Steelers were also trying to gauge where they fit into the national landscape, and now two non-NorCal team featured in Sunday’s final.
“Provo was indeed a very big and physical team. They are well coached and we knew it would be a great test for our young ladies,” Mailo reflected on the final. “We were able to match and even surpass their intensity throughout the match. We had a few miscues here and there but overall our defense prevailed.”
Reylin Aupiu, Puni Skipps, Mercie Vivao, Alana Aupiu, Hunter Meni and Shy Tonumaipea all scored tries, and Provo responded in the waning minutes in the 34-5 decision. The Steelers’ five points were the only points against South Bay all tournament.
“Whatever recipe we’re utilizing, it’s effective,” Mailo said.
Both South Bay and Provo (stay tuned for more info) are heading to the NIT in more than a month, and represent the western half of the country in the high school club division.