Andy Rubin
Reaching the state tournament in the first year of UIL competition, the Carroll boys and girls water polo teams aimed to build off of last season’s success. Both teams were poised to do more than just compete and felt their teams had the talent and experience to take home the hardware this past fall.
After a stellar season for both, neither team’s plans were fully realized. The Carroll girls lost in the 6A state final and the boys lost in the 6A regional final round the week before.
The Lady Dragons (23-2) did advance to the state championship to face Richmond Foster (27-1), the same team that bested them in the semifinals in 2022. After a hard-fought match, Foster defeated the Lady Dragons by 11-8. Carroll beat Foster 6-3 in a meeting earlier in the season — the two-time champs’ only loss in two seasons — and looked forward to seeing them again in the playoffs.
“Going into state, we were confident that we had the team to win it this year,” coach Keith Gomez says. “The kids were just tired, and they were just off enough where the goals that usually would fall just didn't.”
The Lady Dragons played top teams throughout the season, dealt with injuries and still lost just one regular-season game. That came in a district contest with Hebron (27-6), but Carroll avenged the 16-12 loss in the teams’ second district meeting right before playoffs, thrashing the Lady Hawks by a 16-4 margin to secure the district title.
“The girls really took care of business and sent a strong message to the whole region that we were the team to beat,” coach Keith Gomez says.
After a first-round bye, Carroll advanced through the next three rounds to defeat Hebron again in the 6A regional final by 11-4. The Lady Dragons then beat Clute Brazoswood (26-2) in a grueling 8-5 state semifinal contest to reach the state title match. Carroll was led by strong play in goal by senior goalkeeper Somto Okafo, who blocked 79.8% of shots on goal for the season (229-of-287), and offensively by Jojo Walters (138 goals, 67 assists, 122 steals). Walters, who is committed to play at UCLA, was named MVP at the regional tournament and recognized as a top player in the state.
The Carroll boys (26-2) also faced one of the best teams in the state in its own district. After defeating other top teams from the Houston and Austin area — including defending state champs Clute Brazoswood by an 18-5 decision — the Dragons played Marcus (24-2) in a district match and lost its only regular-season contest by a 15-7 final.
“Going into the first [district] game against Marcus, I felt like they were almost a little bit overconfident,” Gomez says. “We had a [district] rematch with Marcus and beat those guys and really felt like we were set up for a successful run in the playoffs.”
Carroll’s 12-11 victory in its second district meeting with Marcus was followed by three double-digit wins that saw the Dragons scoring over 20 goals each time to close out the regular season. But after disposing of Highland Park, Hebron and College Park in the first three rounds of the playoffs, Carroll again faced Marcus in the regional final game.
Having played College Park earlier in the day in the regional semifinal and drawing the later match, the Dragons didn’t look as sharp and lost by an 18-6 margin in the regional final. Marcus went on to claim the 6A title at the state tournament the following week.
“The boys took care of business all year — they just misstepped against Marcus, and that was tough,” Gomez says. “That's a shame because on the boys’ side, the two top teams in the state of Texas were in the same district.”
The Dragons were led by seniors Eric Winkler (96 goals, 42 assists for 138 points), Rory McCarty (118 points), Chris Clarin (110 points) and Brandt McBride (100 points). Carroll returns juniors Carter Smith (121 points) and Louie Christensen (83 points) among other offensive weapons, and will again benefit from strong goalkeeping by junior Ryan Bradford (201 saves, 20-2 record).
“They should be very competitive next year, and the goal is to make another run towards winning region and state,” Gomez says.
As reported on Feb. 15, 2024.