Gulliver Prep boys dominate Dr. Phillips to earn water polo state championship

The only opponent they couldn’t beat was microscopic.

Gulliver Prep’s boys’ water polo team dominated Orlando’s Dr. Phillips, 22-11, winning the state championship on Saturday afternoon at Belen Jesuit’s Gian Zumpano Aquatic Center.

The victory capped a 25-0 season for the Raiders, who stretched their win streak to 64 games. The Raiders also won a state championship in 2019, and they were undefeated last year when they ran into that microscopic foe — COVID-19.

“Last year was a bummer,” Gulliver senior Bruno Rebessi said. “We were denied. It feels like it was stolen from us. This should’ve been three state championships in a row.

“But what can we do? That’s history. We won this year, and that’s all that matters.”

This was the fifth state title for the Gulliver boys since the FHSAA began the water polo series in 2005. No other school has won state more than twice.

Dr. Phillips (17-3) led just once on Saturday — at 1-0. After that, Gulliver — in the first two quarters alone — put together two streaks of three straight goals and one run of 6-0, and that helped the Raiders build a 16-7 lead.

The Raiders led 21-9 after three quarters, and coach Carroll Vaughan emptied her bench.

JC Pompa led Gulliver in goals with nine. Rebessi had seven goals and a team-high six assists. Awwal Kay-Ramos — one-third of Gulliver’s triplets — had four goals, four assists and four steals, and goalie Kamal Kay-Ramos had 12 blocks, four assists and three steals.

“Kamal played a great game,” Vaughan said. “He had a lot of counterattack passes, very poised.”

The Raiders had the experience edge as six of their seven starters were seniors. That fact was not lost on Dr. Phillips coach Leonardo Leon Ramirez, who noted his team was never able to score more than two consecutive goals.

“Every time we tried to get on a roll, we couldn’t get that third one,” Ramirez said. “We played a team that is unbeaten, has a lot of seniors and is very aggressive getting to the ball.

“They are very quick with the ball — quick counterattacks.”

Vaughan said that was by design.

“It’s just the way [the Gulliver boys] play together,” she said. “It’s the way the ball moves. They know where each other will be because they have played together since middle school.

“They anticipate plays. They play great defense. They communicate. It’s a beautiful thing to watch.

“This feels wonderful because these boys have worked so hard for so long. It is so well-deserved. They kept their focus, and they crushed it.”

Rebessi said he is not at all surprised by the result.

“I knew from the beginning of the game that we were going to win,” he said. “We had a plan, and we executed.”