Sudden impact

Mike Sciacca

Experience and leadership are two variables most coaches hope to have

with a team at the outset of a new season.

Those are two attributes generally reserved for upperclassmen with

prior varsity experience. But once in a while a freshman fledgling

comes onto the varsity scene and, instead of trying to find a fit

among the rest of the flock, emerges as a rare bird.

Playing as though an experienced starter while showing signs of

leadership qualities, a handful of freshman athletes have made their

presence felt in Laguna Beach High winter athletics in 2003-04.

From boys’ and girls’ basketball and soccer, to girls’ water polo,

freshmen players have played key roles in their respective team’s

successes this year.

Sure, the learning curve is still prominent, but each player’s

developing athleticism has shone through.

There may have been an inkling as to Cheyne Martin having a sudden

impact on Laguna’s boys’ basketball program.

He was a scoring machine during his youth basketball days prior to

arriving in high school. Last June, he established a city youth

single-game scoring record with a 70-point game.

Martin, at 5-foot-11, is not only a starting guard for Coach Mark

Hill, but is the team’s leading scorer with a 15.7 points per game

average.

Martin also is the team leader in field goal percentage, free

throw percentage and three-point shooting percentage, Hill said.

“I knew he’d have an impact on this team but I didn’t expect this

much,” said Hill, who, like Martin, is in his freshman year as head

coach. “It’s pretty amazing for a freshman to accomplish what Cheyne

has.

“He has an understanding of how to play basketball. He has a sense

of confidence in himself that allows him to play at this level.”

Brittany Clark has had a similar effect on the girls’ basketball

program.

A 5-6 guard, Clark has exceeded Coach Stacy Howard’s expectations

this year.

“In terms of performance on the floor, attitude, drive and

personality, she is everything you love to see in a freshman,” Howard

said of Clark. “One of the most athletic kids to ever enter our

program, she has got speed and quickness on the floor that blows me

away sometimes.”

Clark is Laguna’s second-leading scorer at 9.1 points per game.

She’s also third in the Pacific Coast League in steal and assist

averages.

“We have been watching Brittany play since she was a sixth- and

seventh-grader at the Boys and Girls Club,” Howard said. “We’ve just

been waiting for her to get here, waiting to see her in a Laguna

Beach uniform. I can tell you it’s been worth the wait.”

Rick McKee, in his freshman campaign as head coach of Laguna’s

girls’ water polo team, has two prominent freshmen starters in

Breanna Duplisea and Jessica McKee, his daughter.

“Both Breanna and Jessica have stepped up and shown great maturity

and the ability to play at this competitive level,” McKee said.”

Jessica McKee, the Breakers’ primary set player, is second on the

team with a four goals per game scoring average.

Duplisea, the team’s fourth-leading scorer, is a “great driver who

is very strong and knows the game of water polo,” McKee said.

“I was very hesitant to play a freshman at the varsity level,”

McKee said. “Although a player might have the skills, as freshman,

they generally aren’t emotionally developed to play at the varsity

level. Both Breanna and Jessica have showed otherwise.”

On the soccer field, Avery Zoellner and Brennan Healey have played

key roles for Laguna.

Zoellner, a forward on the girls’ team, isn’t a starter but has

seen plenty of playing time for Coach Mike Thomas.

“Avery epitomizes what a hard work ethic is all about,” he said.

“She has really had a nice season for us.”

Healy, meanwhile, starts and rarely leaves the playing field

during a match, Coach Andy Thomas said.

He’s a product of the city’s Laguna Beach Soccer Club, which is

coached by Andy Thomas.

“We had him in the club program for four years and he has

developed into a great player,” Andy Thomas said. “He is a coach’s

dream. He is big and strong, works very hard, is very fast and

aggressive but plays very cleanly and rarely commits fouls.

“He listens and applies himself in practice and he is everything

that the game of soccer is about. Brennan has a great future ahead of

him and he will go on to great things.”