Breakers breaking the mold

LAGUNA BEACH — With every serve, every forehand winner that left the crowd yelling in support, it became clear Tuesday afternoon that the Laguna Beach High boys’ tennis team would not be denied.

Technically it was an upset, the sixth-seeded Breakers’ 13-5 pasting of No. 2-seeded Cate in the CIF Southern Section Division IV semifinals. But with how hot Laguna Beach has become, it was hardly unexpected.

The Breakers are headed to the CIF finals for the first time since 1983, when tennis legend and nine-time Grand Slam doubles winner Rick Leach ruled the courts at Laguna Beach High. Their opponent at 3 p.m. Wednesday at The Claremont Club will be top-seeded Cerritos, which defeated Sage Hill on games in another semifinal.

“We’re playing our best tennis right now,” sophomore Jake Michaels said. “We’ve been working hard all season, every practice, just working hard. It’s really starting to show and it’s the perfect time.

“I was really stoked because Cate being the second seed, we were coming in as the underdog. I think we stepped up our game today even more than we have. The intensity was there, which was really good. We just keep it going, and I think that’s when we play our best tennis, when we have everybody pumping fists and giving it all they’ve got.”

Michaels, junior Chris Lavery and sophomore Benito Romeo, the Breakers’ three singles players, have been dominant in their run to the finals. For the second straight CIF playoff match, also including the Breakers’ quarterfinal upset of No. 3-seeded Whitney, Laguna Beach swept in singles against Cate.

Only one of the matches was even really close. In the last match on court, Romeo gutted out a 7-5 victory over Cate senior No. 1 player Max Sabel.

“The intensity was up, and he was definitely in a zone in that match for a while,” Romeo said. “I had to step it up. I had to somehow step my level up high enough ... We’re definitely putting a lot of heart into this.”

Yet, one of the most important wins occurred at No. 3 doubles in the first go-round. It was there that the Breakers’ Paul Salomon and Cameron Cornell won a 7-6 (7-2) decision that gave Laguna Beach a 4-2 lead.

Laguna Beach then won five of six sets in the next go-round to clinch at least a tie, clinching the match in the third go-round when the No. 1 doubles team of Rex Miller and Mikey Rubel earned the Breakers’ 10th set win. Miller and Rubel won two of three sets, and Laguna’s No. 2 doubles team of Chris O’Connor and Hutton McKenna also won a set.

“I don’t think there’s one person on the team who’s not contributing to our success,” Michaels said. “I think that’s what makes us different from other teams. Top to bottom, everyone’s contributing.”

Coach Aaron Talarico wouldn’t argue that point. For the singles players, he said practice is as simple as telling them to “play points.”

“When those guys are going like that, it’s like a train,” Talarico said. “When they get rolling, it’s hard to stop them. I literally set those guys on the court and let them compete with each other. They’re on each other for two hours straight and they compete the whole time. But after they’re done, they’re cool, they get along.”

They did it in front of a relatively packed house for a tennis match. The three singles players said it’s the most fans they’ve ever seen for a match.

“You could tell when we won the points,” Lavery said. “If we won the points, [the crowd] was like, ‘Ahhhhhh!’ ”

When they hit the courts in Claremont Wednesday, the Breakers will be trying to win their first CIF title in boys’ tennis since 1982. That doesn’t really bother them, though.

“This is really cool for the team, and for our school and even for our town, you know?” Michaels said. “I think Laguna Beach is a force to be reckoned with in Division IV.”