Mountain View's Nate Cox has helped lead the Cougars to a No. 1 seed and into the 5A state semifinals this weekend in Corvallis.

At Mountain View, it’s all about finishing.

Finish every drive, every counterattack, every shot, and every practice.

Now, for the Cougars, it’s about ending the season strong, their final two games. The potential result: an Oregon High School Water Polo 5A boys state championship.

Only two players graduated from last year’s Mountain View group, which took fourth at the state tournament, making this season’s team experienced, seasoned, and rife with confidence.

“They’re much stronger physically,” Mountain View coach Ryan Duffy says of his current players. “I think they’re more prepared. It’s not coming as a surprise this year, whereas last year, the end of the season just came on us really fast. Getting that experience last year in the state tournament definitely has helped the seniors this year, who are in a little bit more familiar territory.”

Paced by brothers Noah and Nate Cox, who combined for nine goals in the Cougars’ 15-2 win over Marist last week in the first round of the state playoffs, 5A North champion Mountain View cruises into the semifinals of the 5A state championships this weekend in Corvallis as a No. 1 seed. But to get through to Saturday’s title bout, the Cougars will first have to survive a Friday matchup against Ashland — the two-time defending 5A state champion.

“Without a doubt, at this point, it’s do-or-die,” says Duffy, who credits the help of assistant coach Dean Nakadate for much of the Cougars’ success this fall. “We want to be in that state championship game. (But) winning Friday afternoon is what we are focusing on right now. I know that we’ve got the talent and we’ve got the stamina and we’ve got the endurance to play strong on back-to-back days. The main thing is just getting through Ashland.”

The situation at crosstown rival Summit High heading into this season differed from Mountain View’s. Most of the Storm’s starters graduated after Summit took third at the state tournament last year. A few returners saw significant playing time in 2012 — Tommy Brewer, Zack Barry and Kyle Alhart — but that was about as much experience as the Storm had coming into the 2013 season.

Still, only a 12-10 overtime loss to the Cougars kept the Storm from claiming the 5A North championship this season. With 6-foot-6 Brewer coming off 14 goals in the past three games and 6-foot-5 Alhart proving to be, as Summit coach Jay Soles describes him, “a terror in the goal,” Summit looks to improve on its top finish in program history from a season ago. That will start with Friday’s semifinal matchup against West Albany.

“We’ve got good swimming speed,” says Soles. “We just have a really great starting six across the board. And that next three or four kids that come in do a good job of maintaining what we’re trying to do. We don’t necessarily fall off the grid when we get past that sixth or seventh player. We stay pretty strong out there. We’ve got big kids, fast kids, and a lot of good movement.”

In line is a possible all-Central Oregon title tilt. But with Ashland (state champion three of the past four years) and West Albany (2010 state champ) in the mix, the 5A boys state tournament is anyone’s to win.

“I think it’s probably the tightest top four in the last several years,” Duffy says. “I’ve got a lot of confidence in my team and the players on my team. I’m not going to say we’re the favorite, but I’m obviously going to be very disappointed if we didn’t win. I have no problem saying that, in my eyes, we are favored to win. We’re in the best position.”

In the 5A girls tournament, Summit is back and hungry for a state title that eluded the Storm in 2012, when they fell in the title game to then-defending state champion West Albany.

With every player returning from last season, and beginning with a semifinal contest against Ashland on Friday, Summit is poised to go back to the title game.

The Summit roster includes plenty of experienced players, including 2012 all-state-tournament selections Kayanna Heffner, Annie Jarvis and Katie Simpson. Each player on the squad has honed her skills by competing in either high school swimming or club water polo — or both.

While Storm coach Heather Brenda acknowledges that veteran play has guided her team to a 5A North championship, there is more to Summit’s success than that.

“They are a really tight group: in the water, physically and mentally,” Brenda says. “They’re very supportive of each other. They’ve grown a lot through the season. Part of it is some of them have played together so much, but if you can support each other as a team and realize it’s not about me, it’s about the team and about passing and assists and not being the ball hog, you’ve got a team that’s going to do well.

“They bring kind of a diversified offense and they’re all really good on defense,” Brenda adds. “To me, you win a game because of your defense. If you can’t shut down that opponent — your defense has to be the first and foremost.”

If you go

What: Oregon High School Water Polo 5A boys and girls state championships

When: Semifinals — Friday, 12:10 p.m.; championships — Saturday, 10 a.m.

Where: Osborn Aquatic Center, Corvallis

Cost: $8 adults, $5 students and seniors 65 and older, free for children 5 and younger as well as OSAA Gold Card holders

For more information, visit www.oregonwaterpolo.org.