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IRVINE — The warm feelings of friendship and redemption embraced Gavin Conant on a sunny, mid-summer afternoon and drove away a cold and somber fall once and for all.
Conant and North Irvine’s “Beast Boys” lived up to their nickname by defeating two-time defending champion Newport Beach 9-5 in the 18-and-under boys final at the USA Water Polo Junior Olympics on Tuesday.
Before a packed crowd at Woollett Aquatics Center, Conant earned MVP honors with a match-high four goals, two field blocks and two steals.
The USC-bound attacker delivered the performance after missing his senior season at JSerra in the fall because of a back injury.
“This is fate, so it was fun,” Conant said after leading North Irvine’s to its first 18s title. “I was out for about six, seven months and that was really hard. But I got back in January and started training … (and) bounced back.”
Conant said he suffered a stress fracture in his back at the 18-and-under World Championships last summer in Argentina from “over training.”
The injury didn’t require surgery but he missed JSerra’s runner-up finish in the CIF-SS Open Division and title in the SoCal regional.
Conant made up for lost time Tuesday by uniting with an all-star cast of friends to avenge a 12-9 loss to Newport Beach on Monday.
“A lot of these guys (on North Irvine) are national team buddies,” explained Conant, who played at JSerra for two years after transferring from Cathedral Catholic. “We’re all best friends from different clubs and we came together.”
North Irvine’s inspiration, Conant explained, was the Cozy Boys, another “super team” that won the boys 18-and-under crown in 2018.
“I always looked up to the Cozy Boys,” Conant said. “Beast Boys was kind of our thing. It was pretty special. We made the (swim) suits and got the Instagram. It was really fun.”
Beast Boys’ chemistry showed as the No. 5 seed converted all three of its chances on the man-advantage in the first period.
Former JSerra center Colt Bradley (USC) drew two of the exclusions while former Mater Dei left-hander Kyson Becker (UC San Diego) had a goal and assist.
North Irvine finished 5 for 7 with the extra attacker.
“The team came together with some (North Irvine) alumni who just wanted to run in with their friends, and their friends all happened to be really, really good,” North Irvine coach Ed Carrera said.
Former Newport Harbor All-County goalie Luke Harris (USC) made 12 saves to help anchor North Irvine’s defense. Harris and his field blockers held Newport Beach to a 2 for 10 effort on the extra man.
“The game plan (Monday) was just play them straight up and see what they got,” said North Irvine coach Steve Carrera, whose son Jacob (Archie Williams/UC Davis) scored a goal.
“(Newport Beach) played a good game. We just had a little more hustle in us today.”
North Irvine also received two goals from Milan Sumich (Cal) and one from Camden Kocur (Oaks Christian/USC).
Sean Anderson paced Newport Beach with two goals while goalie Connor Clougherty added six saves.
The squad lost Tyler Anderson, an All-County center at JSerra last season, to a game misconduct in the second period.
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