When it was all over, Bellevue Wolverines boys water polo coaches Ed Brovick and Evan Kaseguma were tossed into the pool at Curtis Aquatic Center for a celebration of epic proportions.

Bellevue bolted out to a 4-0 lead and hung on for a 8-6 victory against the Curtis Vikings in the Washington water polo state championship game Nov. 15 in University Place. It was the fourth consecutive state title for the Wolverines water polo program. Kaseguma didn’t mind getting tossed in the pool for the fourth year in the row. The coaches being thrown in the pool by their players is a tradition after a team wins a state championship.

“It’s cold, but it feels good,” Kaseguma said. “One thing that has propelled us to our fourth state title has been our ability to focus when it counts. We tried a couple of different things during regionals and during the regular season, but all of it was geared toward performing our best at the end of the season. That was our goal. Fortunately, it worked out.”

The Wolverines were able to fend off a furious rally by Curtis in the second half to preserve the win. Wolverines’ goalie Quinlan Hughes, who finished with a game-high nine saves, was jubilant following the biggest win of his high school career in the pool.

“It was the weirdest feeling. I have never been that dominant in a sport. It was the greatest feeling I have ever felt in my entire life,” Hughes said. “Tonight is the most amazing night of my life.”

Cameron Hayes scored a team-high three goals for the Wolverines. He scored all three of his goals in the first half, helping give the Wolverines a comfortable 4-0 lead with 2:50 left in the second period.

“We went into this game knowing what we had to do. We knew exactly what needed to happen and thats what we did,” Hayes said.

Zack Rossman and AJ Rossman each scored two goals and Josh Redher chipped in a goal in the title game as well. Brovick was proud of his team for rising to the occasion with everything on the line. The Wolverines finished fourth at regionals, but it didn’t stop them from regaining their championship form at the state tournament.

“It’s a great culmination of the entire season. The senior class has worked hard all of these years to reach this goal. We had some rough spots in the season with some unexpected losses, but they came back and had the state championship as their No. 1 goal and they achieved it,” Brovick said. “They had been here before (state tourney) so they had the confidence. They didn’t have the jitters and executed the game plan. It was a total team effort. It was awesome.”

Members of the 2014 state championship squad consist of Jesse Hainze, Daniel Sandler, Marco Stanchi, Garrett Williams, Liam Naughton, Noah Lauter, Sam Geffe, Sevren Trulson, Ethan Wlaschin, Jack Witham, Zack Rossman, AJ Rossman, Josh Rehder, Quinlan Hughes and Cameron Hayes.

Shaun Scott: 425-453-5045; sscott@bellevuereporter.com