Laguna Beach boys’ basketball home debut a success with a 45-42 win over Dana Hills
Making its home debut in the 2014-15 boys’ basketball season on Wednesday, Laguna Beach High came up with a big performance at Dugger Gym.
Locked in a tight game with Dana Hills, the Breakers battled back from a seven-point deficit and came up with big plays down the stretch to defeat the Dolphins, 45-42. Freshman guard Charlie Rounaghi got half of his six points on a three-point shot from the corner in the closing minute that put the Breakers up 44-42. A defensive stop put the ball back in possession of the Breakers, and then junior guard Isaac Wulff dropped in a free throw in the closing seconds.
Dana Hills (1-4) turned the ball over on its ensuing inbounds play, and Laguna was able to run out the remaining time.
“It was a good win for us and I’m proud of the kids,” Laguna Coach Bret Fleming said. “I thought we really competed hard and the kids didn’t back down when we got down early, and then down by seven at one point. I thought we made plays and had key defensive stops down the stretch.”
Freshman wing Blake Burzell led the game’s scoring with 18 points. Junior guard Isaac Wulff, in his first game back since suffering a broken finger in Laguna’s season opener on Dec. 1, had 11 points and junior wing Darin Richardson had six points.
“Charlie’s basket came out of a set call,” Fleming said of Rounaghi’s go-ahead shot. “He had an open look from the weak-side corner and for a freshman, he didn’t back down. He stepped up, and knocked it down. Our other freshman, Blake (Burzell), hit two big buckets in the fourth quarter which also keyed us down the stretch.”
Laguna was coming off a season-opening appearance last week at the Godinez Grizzly Invitational (Silver Bracket division). The Breakers went 2-3 at the tourney, posting wins against Anaheim (57-35) and Fullerton (48-42). Their losses were to Aliso Niguel (61-48), Cypress (71-58) and Capistrano Valley (46-32).
In the win over Fullerton on Dec. 5, Burzell scored a game-high 20 points, Rounaghi and Richardson both scored seven points, and Spencer Wong and Nick Rahder each had six for the Breakers.
Burzell, who averaged 20 points per game in the tournament, also scored a game-best 22 points, and Rounaghi had six points in Saturday’s 46-32 loss to Capo Valley.
The Breakers were missing three starters for much of the tournament, Fleming said. One was Wulff, who suffered a broken finger (right hand) in the Breakers’ tournament opener against Anaheim.
“Fullerton was a good win for us,” he said. “The tournament gave us the chance to see where we stand. We got a good read on freshman Blake Burzell. He’s just a really aggressive, competitive kid. He was a lot of confidence and gets after it. He’s learning on the fly on how to play the right way, but he’s making great strides.
“I think Spencer Wong has been really stable for us all year. He’s probably our best defender. He doesn’t score a lot but he does a ton of stuff that doesn’t show up in the box score.”
Laguna is back on the Dugger Gym floor on Friday for a 7 p.m. nonleague game against Irvine. Next week, the Breakers will contend for the title of the Oxford Academy Tournament. They’ll play five games — including four in pool play, over a five-day period starting with a 4:30 p.m. pool play game on Tuesday against Savanna.
Laguna also will play pool play against Yorba Linda, Laguna Hills and host Oxford Academy.
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Girls’ Basketball
In their opening game at the Ocean View Hawk Holiday Classic, the Breakers routed Compton Dominguez, 66-30, on Tuesday at Pacifica High in Garden Grove.
Junior forward Alexandra Lewis hit five shots from three-point range to finish with a game-high 26 points, and pulled in 16 rebounds and had seven blocks. Junior forward Sydney DeCarlo also had a double-double with 16 points and 14 rebounds. Sophomore guard Nicole Davidson scored 11 points and had five assists, sophomore guard Rachel Kenney had two points and nine rebounds, freshman guard Jasmine Banks scored nine points, and freshman center Savannah Johnson had two points and six rebounds.
Laguna improved to 2-3 overall.
“It was a good win for the girls,” Laguna Coach Mark Lewis said. “It was good to see more of an offensive attack with many of the girls contributing to the scoring load. Defensively, we again held a team to our goal of 30 points or less. We are doing a pretty good job defensively thus far this season. Looking to take some momentum from that win into the remaining games of the tournament.”
Laguna took on Santa Ana Valley on Thursday in another Hawk Holiday Classic game on Thursday. The score wasn’t available at press time. The tournament continues Friday and concludes Saturday.
The Breakers had opened their season last week at the Corona del Mar Tournament where they went 1-3.
After an opening 36-18 loss on Dec. 1 to Mission Viejo, the Breakers fought back from a 22-6 halftime deficit but was edged, 27-25, by Dana Hills on Dec. 3. Lewis led Laguna with 13 points.
The Breakers notched their first win of the season on Dec. 5 by leading wire-to-wire in defeating Irvine, 40-29. Lewis again paced the scoring by pouring in 27 points. She hit five three-point shots, and her third three-pointer established a Laguna program career record for made three-point shots, Mark Lewis said.
Through Wednesday, Lewis had 99 career three-point shots. The previous school career record was 88.
In their tournament finale last Saturday, the Breakers lost to Westminster La Quinta, 32-29. They had trailed, 28-14, with just over five minutes left in the game, and had closed to within 30-29. Lewis scored 21 points, DeCarlo had five points and Davidson added three points.
Lewis was named to the all-tournament team.
Next week, the Breakers host Newport Harbor in a 6 p.m. nonleague game on Wednesday .
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Twitter: @MikeSciacca