Perfection is in sight

The Laguna Beach boys’ basketball team moved a step closer to a perfect Orange Coast League season and repeated as league champion by defeating visiting Costa Mesa, 71-42, Tuesday at Dugger Gym.

The win upped Laguna’s league record to 8-0. The Breakers, who are headed to the CIF playoffs that begin next week, won their fifth-straight game to improve to 20-5 overall.

Coach Bret Fleming’s squad has won back-to-back league championships, the first time the program has accomplished that feat since the 1962-63 seasons.

It’s also just the third time that the program has won consecutive league titles: the school first did it in 1952 and 1953.

The 20 wins also marks the first time that the program has had consecutive 20-win seasons in 74 seasons of boys’ basketball.

It’s been 55 years since a Laguna team went undefeated in league play, Laguna Coach Bret Fleming said, and that was the 1952-53.

Costa Mesa remained winless on the season.

Laguna closed out the regular season and had a shot at a perfect league season Thursday (Feb. 7) at Estancia. The score wasn’t available at press time.

“All the credit goes to the players in the program,” Fleming said of the back-to-back league titles. “They’ve put in a lot of work to make us competitive. There aren’t any start on this team, just a bunch of kids working hard and making sacrifices for the team.”

Against Costa Mesa, a low-scoring first quarter saw the Breakers lead only 10-4. They then erupted for 22 second-quarter points, held the Mustangs to just eight points and took a 32-12 lead at the half.

After being outscored by three points in the third quarter, Laguna outscored Costa Mesa by 12 points in the fourth quarter to win going away.

Kenny Sullivan’s 16 points led all scorers. Kevin Buck scored 14 points.

Tuesday was Senior Night for 11 Breakers: Sullivan, Buck, Charley Bowman, Dylan Doumeng, Marcus Hairston, Jason House, Matt Ininns, Parker King, Jacky Norris and Graham Unterberger.

An all-senior lineup of Bowman, Buck, Hairston, King and Sullivan, started Tuesday’s game.

Junior Ryan Lawler finished with nine points, King scored six, House had four points, and King three points.

Prior to previous league outing on Feb. 1, Laguna survived at Calvary Chapel, winning 34-32 to complete a three-game league sweep of the Eagles.

Two of those came on Calvary’s home floor. The first also was a low-scoring affair won by Laguna, 32-31 on Jan. 11.

The win also clinched a second-straight league title for the Breakers.

Laguna trailed 17-15 at the half but went on to hold the Eagles to just one point in the third quarter and went on to take a 25-18 lead into the fourth quarter.

Buck scored 11 points, junior Marcus Hairston had scored 10 and Lawler had eight points.

Laguna, the No. 8-ranked team, will host a first-round game in the CIF-SS Division III-A playoffs Wednesday (Feb. 13), marking the fourth time in the past five years that the program has reached postseason play.

The playoff pairings will be announced Sunday.

“We playing relatively well right now,” Fleming said.

“The key for us in CIF is that we manage to remain injury-free and stay relatively healthy.

“We’re going to try to go there and make some noise. It’s tough division, and I think there are five really good teams who will be the favorites going into the playoffs.”