Midway through the third quarter of Tuesday's Exeter-Hanford West boys water polo playoff game, a plea could be heard from the Monarchs' bench: "Watch out for No. 14, he's their shooter."

If Exeter was just discovering at that point of the game how dangerous a player the Huskies' Kevin Conway was, it was much too late to keep their season alive.

Freed of the double-teams and mixed martial arts-like defensive tactics he'd faced all season during West Yosemite League play, the senior 2-meter player scored eight goals as the Huskies opened defense of their Central Section Divison III title with a 13-3 win in a first-round game at the Hanford West pool.

The Huskies, the No. 2 seed, advance to the semifinals, where they'll face No. 6 Redwood, a 10-5 winner at Yosemite (Oakhurst) at 5 p.m. Thursday at Hanford West.

Hanford West beat Redwood twice duirng WYL play.

Thursday's winner advances to the Section championship Saturday at a site to be determined.

Even worse for the folks offering advice from the bench, it came as Huskies' coach Rick Conway was pulling all his starters, after Kevin Conway scored what proved to be his final goal of the game with 3:04 left in the quarter. That goal gave Hanford West a 12-1 lead.

Kevin Conway, the WYL's most valuable player, did most of his damage early in the game, scoring four of Hanford West's five goals in the first quarter.

Tor Gudmundson's had Hanford West's other goal as the Huskies took a 5-1 lead.

Conway and Gudmundson had two goals each and Mike Downing added a fifth as the Huskies widened the lead to 10-1 by halftime.

"Mike Downing and Mike Hostettler did a great job getting the ball inside and allowing Kevin to score," Rick Conway said.

Gudmundson had two goalsand Downing, Johnny Wan and Josh Tabers had one goal each for Hanford West.

The night's other surprise came from the goaltenders.

Hanford West's starter, Grayson Cardoza, had just two saves, thanks to his teammates' aggressive defensive play, while his backup, Sam Wabby, had 10 in about a quarter and a half's work.

Hanford, HW girls lose

Both Hanford's and Hanford West's girls water polo teams made quick exits from the playoffs Tuesday

No. 5 seed Hanford lost 8-6 to No. 4 Tulare Union at Tulare Western, while in Bakersfield, No. 6 Hanford West lost 10-9 in overtime to No. 3 Garces.

"It was our best played game of the season," said Hanford West coach Rhonda Smith.

The Huskies were led by Amanda Hernandez-Howze, who had five goals, one assist, one steal and four drawn ejections.

Breanna Young had three goals, two assists, one steal and three drawn ejections; Courtney Lupercio had one goal and one steal; Natalie Ervin had one steal and two drawn ejections; Kelsey Hill had two drawn ejections and Shannon Hallstrom had a steal.

Goalie Therese Quinn had seven blocks.

(Nov. 11, 2009)