High School Roundup: Laguna girls’ basketball team has successful trip to San Diego
Mark Lewis knew the challenges that awaited his Laguna Beach High girls’ basketball team at the SoCal Holiday Prep Classic in San Diego. The Breakers were part of a seven-team pool in the Prep Division, and had a bit of momentum heading into the tournament having posted a victory over Capistrano Valley at the North/South Challenge last week.
The Breakers continued riding that momentum, and headed home with a 3-1 record from their trip. They capped completed tournament play on Tuesday with a 37-18 victory over San Pasqual at Valhalla High. Alexandra Lewis scored a game-high 20 points, Nicole Davidson had 10 points and Sydney DeCarlo six points as the Breakers improved to 6-8 overall.
Laguna opened tourney play on Dec. 26 and took a 48-24 victory from Valhalla. Lewis hit four three-point shots and had a game-best 22 points to go with nine rebounds and six steals. Davidson had 11 points, six rebounds and four assists, DeCarlo nine points and nine rebounds, and Rachel Kenney, Jasmine Banks and Elise Pontius each had two points.
“A good win wire-to-wire, and a nice start to the tourney,” Mark Lewis said.
Next, Laguna suffered its only tournament defeat, a 38-25 loss to San Diego Canyon Crest Academy. Alexandra Lewis had 15 points and 13 rebounds, DeCarlo four points and 13 rebounds, Davidson scored four points and Kenney two points.
The Breakers trailed by only 29-25 with just under three minutes remaining. They wouldn’t score again after missing a few shots and turning the ball over down the stretch. They hit only 10 of 41 shots from the floor, and were only two of six from the free-throw line.
The Breakers rebounded from the loss by taking out Palmdale Knight, 52-31, on Monday. Lewis canned seven three-point shots and nearly outscored Knight by netting 30 points. The junior also had 10 rebounds and four blocks. Davidson had 11 points to go with five assists and five steals, DeCarlo scored 10 points and had seven rebounds, and Kenney had two points.
Laguna was 21 of 44 from the floor, including seven of 15 from three-point range. The Breakers also had 13 assists.
Laguna’s 3-1 record was good for a third-place finish in the division. San Diego, which edged Canyon Crest, 54-53, finished first with a 4-0 record. Canyon Crest went 3-1.
Alexandra Lewis, who scored 88 points and hit 17 three-pointers in the four games, made the all-tournament team.
“It was a great tourney run for us, a great way to end 2014 with four wins in five games,” Mark Lewis said. “We really came together during this tournament, both on and off the court. We played well on the court and had good fun off the court.
“We are looking to carry the momentum from the tourney into the New Year as we prepare for league with a couple of nonconference games next week.”
Laguna will play just its second home game of the season when it hosts Century in a 6 p.m. nonleague game next Tuesday . On Jan. 9, the Breakers will complete nonleague play and go back on the road for a 6 p.m. game at Garden Grove Santiago.
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Boys’ Basketball
The Breakers completed play on Tuesday at the 25th annual Torrey Pines Under Armour Holiday Classic. The Breakers went 1-3 at the event, their win coming in the 8 a.m. game Tuesday against San Diego Madison. The Breakers exited the tournament with a 60-56 victory.
Isaac Wulff scored a game-high 26 points, Blake Burzell scored 11 points, Darin Richardson and Samiar Tehrani both had nine points, and Spencer Wong took five charges for the Breakers.
Laguna previously dropped games to Carson (Carson City, Nev.), 38-37, Poway, 73-45, and San Diego Horizon, 71-62.
The Breakers rallied from a 26-11 halftime deficit against Carson and had two chances to go front of the Senators in the final 12 seconds, but couldn’t score. Burzell tallied 21 points in the loss to Horizon.
The tournament started Dec. 26 and concluded Tuesday.
“This tournament reminded me of what a young, inexperienced team we have,” Coach Bret Fleming said. “One of the things I am seeing with this team is that when we play a few games in a row and not practicing, we tend to lose sight of the fundamentals. We’ve just got to stay on top of the fundamentals, and we will address that when we return to practice on Monday.”
Laguna has one nonleague tuneup before beginning Orange Coast League play. The Breakers host Capistrano Valley Christian at 7 p.m. on Jan. 9. The Eagles, tied for the No. 4 spot in the CIF-SS Division 5A preseason rankings, are 10-2 through Thursday. They own a 51-44 victory at Newport Harbor, and both their losses are by a combined 10 points.
“They are a pretty good team and this will be a good test for us before we head into league,” Fleming said. “It will be nice to be back home to play. It’s been about a month since we’ve played at home.”
Laguna has had only two home games in its first 17 games. The Breakers won both of those contests, defeating Dana Hills and Irvine at Dugger Gym.
Laguna begins defense of its Orange Coast League title on Jan. 14 at Costa Mesa.
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Girls’ Water Polo
The Breakers, the No. 1 team in the CIF-SS Division 1 poll, will have their ranking tested this weekend at the Newport Harbor-Corona del Mar Holiday Cup. The two-day tournament starts Friday and ends Saturday. Games will be played at the high school pools at Newport Harbor and Corona del Mar.
Sixteen teams make up this year’s tournament. Defending champion Laguna is the top-seed in Group A, which also includes Newport Harbor, Orange Lutheran, Santa Margarita, Carlsbad, Corona Santiago, Riverside Poly and Rancho Bernardo. The Breakers open against Rancho Bernardo at 8:30 a.m. on Friday at Newport Harbor.
“This is one of the top events of the year,” Coach Ethan Damato said. “Great venues, top level officials and most of the top teams in our division (CIF-SS Division 1). I am excited to have the opportunity to play the best and see where we stack up at this point of the year.”
The tournament’s title game starts at approximately 4:05 p.m. Saturday at Newport Harbor.
“We will take it one game at a time with hopes of being back in the championship game,” Damato said. “Our game with Newport (Harbor) last Tuesday (9-8 Laguna win) gave us some great insight on what we are doing well and what we have to better. I think the tournament will be much of the same.”
Next week, Laguna faces another stiff challenge as it travels to take on the No. 2-ranked team in CIF-SS Division 1, Foothill, at 4:15 p.m. Thursday .
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Girls’ Soccer
The Breakers host their alumni game at 11 a.m. Saturday at Guyer Field.
Laguna was in the Palm Springs area last weekend for a pair of nonleague matches. On Dec. 26, they defeated Palm Springs Xavier Prep, 2-1. Last Saturday, the Breakers posted a 4-0 shutout at Indio.
Next week, the Breakers play nonleague games at 5 p.m. Tuesday at San Juan Hills, and at 3:15 p.m. Thursday at JSerra.
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Twitter: @MikeSciacca