The Bishop’s School in La Jolla had a good week of high school sports last week as the Knights won the 2024 Bellarmine Memorial Cup in boys water polo, defeated La Jolla Country Day School by a wide margin in football and handed La Jolla High School’s girls field hockey team only its third loss of the season in an overtime thriller.
Here’s a recap of all the results.
Football
Bishop’s 38, La Jolla Country Day 14
Entering its Oct. 18 road game against crosstown rival Country Day, Bishop’s had won three in a row.
The Knights dominated the Torreys from start to finish, gaining 332 yards on offense, including 172 yards rushing.
Junior quarterback Cash Herrera threw two touchdown es, senior Ian Browne had seven receptions for 115 yards and a touchdown and senior Ruben Gutierrez III ran for 130 yards and a TD.
The Knights’ defense forced seven turnovers, including five interceptions.
The win kept Bishop’s tied for first place in the Coastal League with Santa Fe Christian with a 2-0 league record.
Bishop’s (5-2 overall) will go for its fifth consecutive victory in a home game against Orange Glen (0-8) at 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 26.
La Jolla Country Day (4-4) next has a road game against Army-Navy Academy (6-2) at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 25.
La Jolla High 44, Francis Parker 14
Coming off a high-scoring win over Mira Mesa, La Jolla picked up another against Francis Parker.
The Vikings’ defense had two interceptions and held Francis Parker to 83 receiving yards.
The Vikings remain in second place in the Eastern League, behind Scripps Ranch.
La Jolla (6-2) next plays at home against Point Loma (4-4) at 7 p.m. Oct. 25.
Boys water polo
Bishop’s wins Bellarmine Memorial Cup
In a season that has been far from perfect — Bishop’s in fact entered the week with a losing record — the Knights’ run to the title in the 2024 Bellarmine Memorial Cup proved they’re still a team to contend with.
In the two-day tournament, Bishop’s defeated Davis Senior, St. Francis and San Clemente en route to the championship game against Corona del Mar, which the Knights won in a 15-14 nail-biter.
Junior Pete Ryan scored four goals in the title match, including the game-winner. Senior team captain Caspar Lightner also had four goals in the championship game, while junior Colton Bell had three.
Over the four tournament games, Bell, senior captain Charlie Martin and freshman Aden Shin led the team with 10 goals each.
Sophomore goalie Luke Spiro had 31 saves during the tournament, including 10 in the championship game.
Sophomore Cutter Leach led the team with nine steals.
“The coaching staff is very proud of the boys, as this was the first time we have ever won the [Bellarmine] Memorial tournament,” said Bishop’s head coach Doug Peabody. “The boys worked incredibly hard before, during and after games to come together as a team, working through many aspects of team chemistry both in and out of the pool.”
This week, Bishop’s (12-9) takes on Coronado (7-13) at home at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 23, Cathedral Catholic (16-5) on the road at 3 p.m. Oct. 25 and Vista (7-14) at home at noon Oct. 26.
Field hockey
Bishop’s
The Knights, the top-ranked field hockey team in San Diego and California, had two big games last week, first against Western League and in-town rival La Jolla, the second-ranked team in California, and then against Cathedral Catholic, the third-ranked team in San Diego.
Bishop’s narrowly defeated La Jolla 2-1 in overtime on Oct. 16 and beat Cathedral Catholic 2-0 two days later.
“It really came down to the girls on our team implementing what we train for in practice,” said Gabby Gaspar, a senior and team captain. ‘I’m really proud of everyone and how hard they worked … studying film, lifting, running and playing their hearts out.”
The two big wins brought the Knights’ record to 18-1 overall and 7-0 in league play. Bishop’s is now the ninth-ranked field hockey team in the nation and No. 1 west of the Mississippi, according to MaxPreps rankings.
“Our success should be credited to head coach Paula Conway,” Gaspar said. “She has so much dedication to our team and watching all players succeed and get better every day. She is such a motivator and positive force as well as a strong er in us and everything we do. She really is the best. Anyone who has met her can tell you she really is quite an amazing person.”
Bishop’s next visits University City (3-11-3) at 4 p.m. Oct. 23.
La Jolla High
After their overtime loss to Bishop’s, the Vikings recovered with a 3-1 win against Archbishop Mitty on Oct. 18.
The next day, they lost 2-1 to St. Ignatius College Preparatory and defeated Willow Glen 4-3.
All of those opponents are ranked in the top 10 in California. The two defeats marked the first time this season La Jolla lost twice in a week, but despite that, the Vikings are rated No. 4 in the state by MaxPreps.
La Jolla (11-4) opens this week’s play with a home game against Cathedral Catholic (15-5) at 7 p.m. Oct. 23, followed by a visit to University City (3-11-3) at 4 p.m. Oct. 25.
La Jolla Country Day
Entering last week sitting in first place in the Eastern League with a 5-0 record, the Torreys hosted league opponent Mira Mesa and pulled out a 1-0 win Oct. 16 to improve to 14-4 overall.
After the victory, senior Kanoa Kowalski was leading Country Day’s offense this season with nine goals and four assists.
Next up for Country Day is a road game against Patrick Henry (3-11) at 4 p.m. Oct. 23, followed by a home match-up vs. league rival Clairemont (11-5) at 4 p.m. Oct. 25. ♦
