The races are on

Mike Sciacca

The Laguna Beach High boys’ basketball team stepped into the bright

lights of Dugger Gymnasium on Tuesday afternoon, which marked the

first time this season the squad had practiced or played in the

renovated building.

Those spotlights will shine on the team again tonight , as the

Breakers host rival Corona del Mar in the Pacific Coast League opener

for both schools.

Tuesday also was supposed to be the first time this season that

the Laguna girls’ basketball team played in Dugger, but the gym

wasn’t ready for action and the nonleague matchup with Newport Harbor

was switched to the Sailors’ home court.

The girls’, however, did open Pacific Coast League play at home

Thursday , against Corona del Mar.

“It’s a nice feeling to finally be at home, although there is

definitely a new look to the gym,” Laguna boys’ coach Mark Hill said.

“This has been a good week, though, to be able to get in a few home

practices before we face CdM.”

Hill’s squad comes into league play having gone .500 (8-8) during

nonleague play.

The Breakers lost some close games but managed to win eight games

despite having two starters miss five games.

Cheyne Martin, the team’s leading scorer, and Austin Sands, were

starters who had to sit out several games due to the flu. The flu

bug, Hill said, also hit other Laguna players

Martin, however, still has managed to lead the team in four

categories: the 5-foot-11 freshman guard is averaging 18 points per

game, hitting 53-percent of his shots from the floor, shooting

84-percent from the free throw line and is hitting 43-percent of his

three-point shot attempts.

Ivan Kovacevic is another Breaker scoring in double figures at

14.7 points per game.

The 6-4 junior forward also is the team leader in rebounding with

a 9.4 per game average.

“It was an up-and-down preseason but, for the most part, the kids

have shown some good signs,” Hill said. “It’s been very tough to

maintain any type of consistency due to the illnesses, which did

hinder our performance in nonleague play.

“We’ve lost some close games in tournament play this year and it

will be nice, finally, to have everybody back in our lineup ready to

go in league.”

Laguna went 1-9 in last year in the Pacific Coast League, which

was won by Northwood.

Hill, a first-year coach at Laguna, will lead the Breakers into

league wars for the first time.

He said he’s looking forward to the race.

“It’s going to be fun, really,” he said. “On paper, everybody’s

pretty even, although University might be a step ahead of the pack

right now. But, we’ll all have to play the course of the 10-game

league season, in order to see who does come out on top.

“Our kids have a nice confidence level, in regards to going up

against some of the teams in our league. That’s nice to see,

especially since the team is coming off a 1-9 season. But, this is a

new start.”

Laguna’s first two league games are “big for us,” Hill said:

following tonight’s season home opener against Corona del Mar, the

Breakers entertain defending champion Northwood on Wednesday.