Martins Named District MVP

Comment The 2026 season was a banner one for Highland Park’s girls water polo team. Not only did the Lady Scots go 8-0 en route to their third district title in the past five years, but the squad also set a program-record with 18 wins. Unfortunately, HP’s success didn’t carry over to the postseason, where after receiving a bye in the bi-district round, the Lady Scots met their match in the area round in a 14-9 loss to a Flower Mound Marcus team ranked eighth in the nation by maxpreps.com. “That’s how the alignment falls,” HP head coach Chris Cullen said of often facing a powerhouse in the early stages of the postseason. “But it was a great season for us.” Individually, sophomore Rita Martins was named the district’s Most Valuable Player after leading HP in scoring (123 points), including 68 goals and a team-high 55 assists while also pacing the team in steals (69). HP’s leading scorer, senior captain Kaylee Schmidt, touched the back of the net 87 times while chipping in 22 assists on her way to claiming Offensive Player of the Year honors. Cullen noted that Schmidt, one of just four seniors on the roster, has aspirations of playing collegiately but is yet to make a commitment. Also earning all-district honors for HP were sophomores Aleksa Zivaljevic (first team), Taylor Ramo (first team), Gianna Holdridge (second team) and senior Olivia Slaughter (honorable mention). Zivaljevic had a strong all-around season with 64 goals, 34 assists, and 55 steals, while Ramo also contributed in multiple facets with 26 goals, 38 assists, and 56 steals. Holdridge, meanwhile, made 113 saves in net for the Lady Scots. “We should have a good setting for next year,” said Cullen, who was named Coach of the Year. “We were a pretty young team outside of Kaylee, and having Rita, Aleksa, Taylor, and Gianna is a good group to build with.” HP’s boys team, meanwhile, wrapped up the season with an 11-13 mark, but did manage to earn a postseason win before bowing out in the area round. The Scots opened the playoffs with a 20-11 victory over Sachse before coming up short against Flower Mound in the area round, 19-14. The Jaguars entered the postseason ranked No. 78 in the nation. Previously, HP had posted a 5-5 record in district competition. “The boys team was really up and down because of how young we were,” Cullen said. “We only had one senior, so it was a bit of a rebuilding year for us. We had a new starting goalie and multiple freshmen that were starting, but I was really pleased with how the team improved throughout the year.” Individually, HP was powered by the play of junior captain Harrison Howarth (first team), who ranked 45th in the nation in scoring (132 points) following a season in which he posted 98 goals and 34 assists. The Scots also received strong offensive performances from the tandem of sophomore Beau Kohl (second team) and junior Knox Kohl (second team), with the former posting 56 goals and a team-high 67 assists and the latter chipping in 71 goals alongside 51 assists. Sophomore AJ Flaskas (honorable mention) ranked fourth in points with 58 goals and seven assists, while freshman Andrew Luu (27), junior Aidan Zahodnik (23) and senior Hayden Phan (18) also reached double figures in goals. Knox also led the team in steals (58), while junior Dean Hemphill made 141 saves in goal. Author Justin Thomas View Profile Justin Thomas is the Sports Editor for People Newspapers . Thomas has spent a dozen years as a sportswriter and community editor for Star Local Media, a Plano-based publisher of several North Texas weekly newspapers. He has also freelanced for that company and The Dallas Morning News. PRN