The Pioneer boys’ water polo team was living on the edge this past weekend and it caught up to them in the end. Still, the Pioneers had an impressive season with some big wins and a strong finish against some of the best teams in the state.
During a very busy two days at Birmingham Groves High School, Pioneer advanced to the 2023 Michigan Water Polo Association (MWPA) championship game. At the other end of the pool was Rockford, a team that eliminated Hudsonville (winners of the last four state titles) earlier in the tournament.
In a close game from start to finish, Rockford scored an 11-9 victory to win the state championship on Saturday at Groves following two close wins. Rockford won the West Regional while Pioneer won the East Regional.
This year’s state finals were highly competitive with a number of evenly matched teams. During the two-day tournament, 12 games were played and seven were decided by three goals or less.
Pioneer was a perfect example, winning two of those close games and losing one. The Pioneers opened the tournament with a 15-13 victory over East Kentwood. They then needed overtime to defeat the Wilddogs 15-14 as Pioneer won two games by a total of three goals.
Rockford advanced with a 10-6 win over Dexter and a 12-10 victory over Hudsonville.
The Wilddogs defeated Hudsonville 16-10 to finish third.
Huron opened with one of those close games, falling to Hudsonville 13-10 in Friday’s opening-round match. The River Rats then knocked off Dexter 17-3 in one of the few lopsided games. Huron defeated East Kentwood 12-10 to finish fifth overall.
Groves defeated Dexter 11-8 to finish seventh overall.
So, to further prove the point, the Dreadnaughts finished eighth overall but lost to the eventual state champions by only four goals in the first round.
