UPSET ALERT!!!! UPSET ALERT!!!!! The Grady water polo team, the APS Knights, defeated the Wildcats, a combination of Wheeler High School and Kraken, a club team. The Knights went ahead by five goals early and held on for a 10-7 win. The win was significant because it was the first this year by a division 2 team over a division 1 team. Coach Stuart Sheldon said that his team knew how the Wildcats were going to play, and the Knights were prepared to take advantage of how their opponents handled the ball.

“They all handle the ball on top. I don’t see the stat sheet, but we must have gotten ball-under calls 15 times in the game,” Sheldon said. “The Knights did exactly what they needed to do to earn the turnover.”

After amounting a five goal lead in the first half, the APS Knights let up in the third quarter, allowing the Wildcats to come within one goal with a score of 8-7.

“On the bench, we had people laughing and joking and whistling and when they went in, they weren’t paying attention to what was going on, they weren’t paying attention to what we were telling them, so mistakes kept happening,” coach Stuart said.

In the fourth quarter, the Knights’ defense stepped up, goalie Joe Bradley shut out the Wildcats, and goals from Ryan Switzer and Luke Paddock put the finishing touches on a win. Despite the excitement of beating a D1 school, coach Sheldon put the win on a realistic level.

“Well, it’s great for the kids, it keeps them excited and interested. For us, [Coach Robin Smith] and I would have been disappointed if we didn’t win this game because we’ve seen this team play,” Sheldon said. “We expected to win that game.”

The win improves the Knights’ record to 5-1 in the division, which puts them in second place. They are half a game back of North Springs for the division 2 lead. If the Knights finish first in the division, they get promoted to division 1 next year. Coach Sheldon put this possible achievement in perspective.

“Well, our goals for this year are to learn how to play fundamentally good water polo and to have a good time. Now, if we end up getting promoted to the A division, that’s icing on the cake. That’s not a goal.”

The APS Knights have a difficult week ahead of them, facing Pope, the third place team in the standings, and Blue Devil B2, the fourth place team. The Knights play the Pope Greyhounds on Wednesday at 5 p.m. at Pace Academy with the possibility of moving into first place in their division with a win and losses by North Springs and Blue Devil B1.