BREAKERS ROUNDUP: Playoffs start on good note

The Laguna Beach High boys’ water polo team had little problem advancing Wednesday in postseason play.

The Breakers opened the CIF Division III playoffs at home against Great Oak of Temecula Valley and overwhelmed the visitors, 14-6.

Laguna led, 5-0, after one quarter and was up, 9-0, at the half. The Breakers shut out the Wolfpack again in the third quarter, where they increased their lead to 13-0.

Victor Alcone led the scoring with five goals and also racked up 10 steals. Nolan McConnell scored three times and had three assists, Preston Head also scored three goals and Brett Thompson, David Brunner and Spencer Dodson each had a goal and assist. Erik Henrikson registered 12 saves.

“We expected a tough game in our first home match in some time,” Laguna Coach Ethan Damato said. “We were excited to be up 5-0 in the first quarter and I think that lead set the tone for the rest of the game.”

The win moved Laguna into a quarterfinal matchup at 3:15 p.m. today against Citrus Belt League champ Redlands at the Laguna pool. Redlands routed Bell Gardens on Wednesday, 21-2.

Laguna and Redlands met in the regular season on Oct. 25 in a match won by the Breakers, 12-7.

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Girls’ Volleyball

In its first playoff game as a member of Division I-A, two-time Southern Section champion Laguna began postseason play Tuesday with a sweep of visiting Trabuco Hills.

The Breakers beat the Mustangs, 25-19, 25-18, 25-15, at Dugger Gym to advance to Thursday’s second-round, where they faced Notre Dame Academy.

The score wasn’t available at press time but a win by Laguna would send the Breakers on to Saturday’s quarterfinal round.

Paulette Grand Pre came up with 14 kills and 18 digs and Piper Obradovich had 10 kills and 23 digs for the Breakers against Trabuco Hills. Alexandra Palmer had 33 assists.

The win moved Laguna to 22-8 overall and improved the Breakers’ all-time best-of-five match record against Trabuco Hills to 17-0.

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Girls’ Golf

Junior Grace Komoroczy had her postseason run come to an end on Nov. 7 when she shot an 81 at the CIF Individual Regional finals at Mountain Meadows Golf Course in Pomona. The cutoff was 75 and the top 28 scorers at the finals moved on in postseason competition.

Komoroczy was one of six players to shoot 81.

Laguna Coach Val Quigley said that Komoroczy got off to a shaky start with a triple bogie on the first hole and was five strokes behind after four holes.

“But then she calmed down and over the next 14 holes, she played very well but could not make up the strokes,” Quigley said. “The course was tough. It is on the side of a hill and there were several elevation changes, dog legs and tiered greens.”

Komoroczy reached the finals by shooting a 78 (cutoff was 83) on the opening day of the tournament on Nov. 3 at the Yucaipa Valley Golf Club. She had three birdies and tied for 19th place with five other golfers in a field that included 91 competitors.

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Girls’ Tennis

Orange Coast League champion Laguna Beach opened play Thursday in the Division I playoffs at home against Sunny Hills, the third-place team out of the Freeway League. The score wasn’t available at press time.

The winner of Thursday’s match advances to play a second-round match Saturday against the winner of the Thursday CAMS-Chaminade first-round match.

At the Orange Coast League championships Nov. 6, the doubles team of Megan Moss and Lauren Michaels defeated teammates Heather Tran and McKenna Nokes, 6-0, 4-6, 6-3 to win the league title. In singles, Laguna’s Alex Tachovsky lost to Estancia’s Ellie Edles, 6-4, 6-3.