Breakers drop finale to Tesoro

Boys’ basketball team starts slow in 71-43 loss to Titans.The season came to an end Wednesday for the Laguna Beach High boys’ basketball team, which dropped a 71-43 Pacific Coast League game to Tesoro at Dugger Gymnasium.

“We went up against a very good team that has a lot of size,” Laguna coach Bret Fleming said. “We played them tough the first time we played them in league, but this time we got down early and couldn’t recover.”

Tesoro jumped to an 18-7 lead after one quarter and extended its lead to 33-17 by the half. The Titans went on to outscore the Breakers, 23-8, in the third quarter.

Prior to tipoff, Laguna honored its seniors in a pre-game ceremony. Jeff Clark, Brendan Finnerty, Travis Grogan and Sam Palfreyman played their final game as Breakers. Fleming started his senior players Wednesday.

Clark, a four-year varsity player, finished with 10 points.

Junior Cheyne Martin led Laguna with 12 points. Bobby Monroe finished with eight points, Brian Delino seven and Ian Butters two for the Breakers.

Monroe, a junior center, had five rebounds.

Laguna was coming off a heartbreaking loss Monday, as the Breakers missed a few last-second shots and dropped a 44-41 road game to rival Corona del Mar.

The Breakers were coming off a 64-53 home-court win over Calvary Chapel, in which Martin scored a game-high 29 points and Butters and Clark each finished with 10.

Laguna had a few chances to catch the Sea Kings in the final 10 seconds. Down by one point, the Breakers missed the front end of a one-and-one situation from the foul line. Following a pair of free throws by the Sea Kings, Laguna had a good look from the three-point line, but Martin’s attempt from the arc bounced off the front of the rim just before the buzzer.

Martin again led Laguna in scoring, hitting four three-point shots and finishing with 24.

“We had some chances, but the ball just didn’t fall,” said Fleming, whose team lost at home to the Sea Kings, 71-53, on Jan. 18. “We came out and gave a good effort. It was a tough one to lose.”

Laguna finished league play with a 3-9 record. The Breakers went 7-19, overall.20060210iueau5ncDON LEACH / COASTLINE PILOT(LA)Jeff Clark lays it up as teammate Ian Butters follows in a game against Calvary Chapel on Feb. 1.