Breaker girls finish fourth in hoops tourney

The Laguna Beach High girls’ basketball team opened its season with a

fourth-place finish in the Lady Centurion Classic at Century High.

The Breakers defeated host Century (39-34) and Kennedy (48-46),

but lost to a pair of Sunset League schools in defending champion

Edison (61-34) and Huntington Beach (48-31).

“Overall, not a great start, but nonetheless, a place to start,”

Laguna coach Stace Howard said.

Monday night, Laguna traveled to the Cajon Classic and played flat

in a 79-35 loss to Yucaipa.

“We never even bothered to show up,” Howard said. “We took a

40-point pounding by a team that was, honestly, no better than us. I

don’t remember the last time this program got beat by 40, but it’s a

feeling we’re not going to get used to.

“We just never got on track, weren’t communicating on the floor,

shots wouldn’t fall, no hustle, no fire.

In posting a 2-3 record in its first five games, Laguna has been

led by Claire Bevacqua, who averaged 10 points and 10 rebounds per

game.

Freshman Tess Grogan led the way with three steals per game and

junior Chelsea Hairston has been the team’s emotional leader, Howard

said.

“She dives after loose balls and begs to be put back in the game,”

she said. “She’s all heart and hustle.

“Senior Andrea Ventura is playing tough and our bench is providing

some solid minutes. Brittany Clark has yet to come alive and I expect

some good things from her this week out at Cajon. Our two freshmen

are playing well, getting their feet wet, learning what it takes to

play at this level. They are learning every night and are

contributing good things for us right now.”

Another freshman, Emily LaRose, is out with a quad injury and is

scheduled to have an MRI.

“She is a big piece of our puzzle missing right now, so we hope to

have her back soon,” Howard said.

“We are just a little flat right now. We are looking to find our

rhythm, looking to find that balance between fearlessness and smart,

solid basketball. The desire is there, the heart is there, we just

need to slow down, get back to being disciplined and back to playing

our style of ball, which is aggressive, fast, fun. We expect a lot

out of ourselves this year and it’s a long season.”

In boys’ basketball, Laguna ended play in the Taco Company

Tournament at Loara High by storming back to score a 61-50

consolation round victory over Warren.

Nikola Nikolic and Max Jaffe each scored 16 points and Josh Cedeno

had 10 points for the Breakers, who overcame a 33-22 halftime deficit

by outscoring the Bears, 39-17, in the second half.

In a third-round game, Laguna also staged a second half comeback

that fell short against Brea-Olinda, 55-53.

Brian Bergen scored 15 points, Nikovic had 12 and Jaffe 10 for the

Breakers.

In a quarterfinal game, Laguna edged Sonora, 48-45, with Nikolic

and Jeff Clark each scoring 11 points and Ivan Kovacevic netting 10.

Laguna returns to action tonight for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff at Buena

Park.

In girls’ tennis, Pacific Coast League singles champ Claire

Rietsch was eliminated by Troy’s Clare Fermin, 2-6, 7-5, 6-2, at the

CIF-Southern Section Championships.

In boys’ soccer, Laguna downed visiting El Modena, 3-1, in

nonleague play.

Breaker goals were score by Raul Albarran, Derek Derek LeBon and

Brennan Hexberg.

In girls’ water polo, Laguna fell to host Santa Margarita, 12-7,

in nonleague play.

Addison Doud’s four goals paced the Breakers.