RIVERSIDE — Catherine Jenkins and Clarysa “CJ” Sirls accomplished plenty during their first three seasons on the Centennial girls water polo team. Jenkins and Sirls helped the program capture CIF Southern Section championships in 2022 and 2024 and a historic CIF State regional crown in 2022. There is one thing missing from that duo’s resume, however: a Big VIII League championship. Jenkins and Sirls have one final chance to check that box. Jenkins registered a hat trick and Sirls tallied 12 blocks and four assists as Centennial defeated King 9-4 in a Big VIII League match Tuesday afternoon. With that victory, the Huskies for the second consecutive season secured the No. 1 seed for the league’s carousel tournament, which kicks off Thursday. Centennial was in this position last season, but King avenged a previous loss and beat the Huskies in the carousel championship match to win the title. “I think we just have to stay focused until the very end,” Centennial coach Crystal Voss said. “Last season, we did not adjust well to what King did to us.” Centennial has not won a girls water polo league championship since the mid-2000s. Jenkins and Sirls are eager to end that lengthy drought. “We’ve been chasing that (league title) for four years,” Jenkins said. “To get that in our senior year would be amazing. A great ending to our time here.” Centennial (20-3 overall, 5-0 in league) used its familiar combination of defense and counterattacking to grab the early lead in Tuesday afternoon’s match. Sirls stopped a pair of shots and then delivered outlet passes to Caroline Manley and Jenkins for goals that put the Huskies up 2-0 a few minutes in. King (6-9, 3-2) battled back, however, as Guinaveve Neuhoff and Catherine Shah each scored a goal to level the score by quarter’s end. Centennial’s counterattack struck again at the beginning of the second quarter, with Sirls springing Manley free for another goal to help the Huskies regain the lead. Emma Armstrong and Jayda Perez added goals later in the period to extend Centennial’s advantage to 5-3 at halftime. “I think we just got back to playing at our tempo,” Voss said of the second quarter performance by her team. “We have to keep playing our style.” Centennial focused plenty of attention on King center Cameron Heckroth, employing a drop defense to make things difficult for Heckroth to work inside from the 2-meter spot. That led to open shots for the rest of King’s attackers. But many of those were off-target, and Sirls stopped others in her reach. Shah scored for the second time, a power-play goal that helped King trim the deficit to 5-3 with 5:04 remaining in the third quarter. Centennial once again had an answer, however, as Manley and Jenkins combined for three goals during a span of 2 1/2 minute to increase the lead to 8-3 after three periods. Manley delivered a strong all-around effort for the Huskies, including game highs of four goals, four steals and three field blocks. Lilyana Ruiz recorded nine blocks for King, which will be the No. 3 seed for the league’s carousel tournament. Brianna Hoover finished with three steals. Related Articles High School Sports | Ontario Christian girls basketball team pulls away from Rancho Christian in nonleague showdown High School Sports | IE Varsity’s high school boys basketball rankings, Jan. 13 High School Sports | IE Varsity’s high school girls basketball rankings, Jan. 13 High School Sports | King girls basketball team cruises past Roosevelt in Big VIII League opener High School Sports | Inland soccer notes: Mike Sutherland back leading Corona boys program Centennial has overcome several obstacles over the past two seasons. A new aquatics complex is being built on campus, so the Huskies have been nomads for quite some time. The team practices at night (usually 6:30-9 p.m.) at Corona High School and plays any “home matches” there, as well. “There have been a lot of long days and late nights,” said Sirls, the Arizona State-bound goalie who was the IE Varsity Player of the Year last year. “Having all of those obstacles have not been easy, but some of that has also brought us closer together as a team. We keep pushing through with what we’ve got.”