New seasons begin

Fresh starts at hand for Laguna girls’ water polo, boys’ and girls’ basketball and soccer.Last spring, the Laguna Beach High girls’ water polo team powered its way to the CIF-Southern Section championships at Belmont Plaza Pool.

The Breakers, fresh off a runner-up finish in Division II, begin a new season Tuesday when they host Brea-Olinda at 4 p.m.

With several key players returning from last year’s run, Laguna figures to again challenge for supremacy in the Pacific Coast League and CIF-SS Division II.

Laguna comes into the season ranked second in Division II.

The Breakers face a challenging schedule this year, taking on several teams who earned preseason top 10 rankings: Santa Margarita (No. 3, Div. I), Santa Barbara (No. 3, Div. IV), El Dorado (No. 7, Div. II), Tustin (No. 5, Div. II), Villa Park (No. 3, Div. II), Los Alamitos (No. 5, Div. I), Peninsula (No. 4, Div. II) and PCL rival Corona del Mar (No. 1, Div. II).

In other prep action, the 2004-05 season begins next week for Laguna’s boys’ and girls’ basketball teams and boys’ and girls’ soccer teams.

The boys’ basketball team, which scrimmages San Clemente at home today, begins its season Monday at the Taco Tournament, hosted by Loara High.

The Breakers open the tournament, which runs through Dec. 2, against defending CIF-SS Division I champion Etiwanda at 6 p.m. at Cypress High.

The girls’ basketball team opens its season Wednesday at the Century Tournament, which runs through Dec. 3.

The boys’ soccer team begins its season Tuesday by hosting St. Margaret’s at 4:45 p.m., and the girls’ soccer team launches its season Thursday at Ocean View in a 3:15 p.m. start.