Playoff fate

Mike Sciacca

In late November of last year, five Laguna Beach High winter sports

teams took their initial steps of the 2002-03 season, each team

setting goals that extended beyond that modest first game.

One goal all five teams had was to make the CIF Southern Section

playoffs.

Well, nearly three months later, two of those five Laguna teams is

certain to be included in the postseason picture.

The Southern Section office will announce on Sunday the playoff

pairings for the sports of boys’ and girls’ basketball and soccer and

girls’ water polo.

That’s when all Southern Section schools will learn their

postseason fate.

Laguna’s girls’ water polo and boys’ soccer teams will be included

in the Division II playoff field when pairings are released on

Sunday, the day when the Breakers will learn of their opponent, date,

time and place of their first-round game.

During a steady rain Wednesday afternoon, Laguna’s boys’ soccer

team earned an automatic bid to next week’s Division II playoffs by

virtue of a come-from-behind 3-2 victory over University.

The win gave the Breakers, who trailed 1-0 at the half and needed

a win to make the playoffs, sole possession of third place in the

Pacific Coast League standings. It also capped a run during the final

week of the regular season that saw Laguna win its final three league

games.

A loss would have been a crucial blow to the Breakers’ playoff

aspirations.

“I think that this season has been particularly sweet because we

lost five players throughout the course of the season and our team

still came through,” said Laguna Coach Andy Thomas, whose team won

the Division IV title a year ago.

“Our boys have really shown a lot of character these final three

games to reach the playoffs. This definitely is sweet.”

Being included in the playoff field is nothing new for the Laguna

girls’ water polo program.

Since the 1999 season, Coach Rick Scott’s squads have reached the

quarterfinal round on four occasions. His 2000-01 team won the

school’s first CIF championship in the sport.

His current team has already recorded the program’s third

consecutive 20-win season and will be playing in the Division II

playoffs for the first time, after previously competing at the

Division IV level.

The Breakers, led by the county’s top goal scorer, Annie Preble,

wrapped up their Pacific Coast League and regular season schedule on

Wednesday with a 10-8 triumph over University to improve to 21-5

overall.

On the hardwood, Laguna boys’ basketball coach Rob Cullinan said

the team had two goals for the season: “Improve our total wins from a

year ago, and get into the playoffs,” he said.

Well, the Breakers achieved that first goal, surpassing last

year’s six-win total by winning for the 10th time this season in a

66-55 defeat of Tesoro on Tuesday night.

That win was Laguna’s first in Pacific Coast League play and came

on the heels of last Friday’s tough 72-68 loss to Calvary Chapel.

Cullinan called his team’s meeting with Calvary Chapel the “game

of the year for us,” noting that his team had to be victorious if

they were to receive a wild-card bid into the playoffs.

Still, the Breakers have a postseason chance: the CIF-Southern

Section allows any team with 11 or more victories to petition for a

berth in the basketball playoffs.

With 10 victories, Laguna was one win short of that magical

number. Their final chance to record victory No. 11 came Thursday night at University, the league’s second place team behind champion

Northwood.

To automatically qualify for the CIF playoffs, any Laguna team

must finish in third place or better in the six-team Pacific Coast

League.

In the case of the boys’ basketball team, Laguna will not finish

among the league’s top three teams, but can petition for at-large

consideration if they have 11 or more overall victories, provided

that a playoff berth is available in their division.

There will be no playoff appearance for Laguna’s girls’ basketball

team, although the Breakers did turn in one of their better seasons

in recent memory.

Laguna had three league wins -- and seven overall -- heading into

their Thursday game with University.

Laguna’s girls’ soccer team, in a rebuilding stage in 2002-03,

will also miss the playoffs.