High School Roundup: Laguna girls hold off Newport in water polo
In a key early-season CIF-Southern Section Division 1 matchup on Tuesday, top-ranked Laguna Beach held off third-ranked Newport Harbor in the fourth quarter to come away with a 9-8 victory at the Laguna pool.
The score was tied, 3-3, at halftime, but the Breakers pulled out to a 7-4 lead through three quarters. The Sailors, however, rallied from an 8-6 deficit to forge an 8-8 tie with under two minutes remaining. Laguna’s Makenzie Fischer, who led all scorers with seven goals, put in her final goal, which proved to be the game winner, with 23 seconds left.
Bella Baldridge and Taylor Julson scored once, Mia Salvini had two assists, and Holly Parker had six saves for the Breakers who improved to 5-0.
The Breakers played the match without starter Aria Fischer (injury).
Laguna has won 26 consecutive matches dating to last season and beat Newport Harbor (3-2) for the fifth straight time.
“I thought [Makenzie Fischer] really willed us to victory today,” Laguna Coach Ethan Damato said. “If you talk to the majority of the girls, I don’t think anybody really feels like we played very well, but we won. We’re going to feel good about that, but I think the majority of our team feels like we could be a lot sharper. I’m glad Makenzie came to play.”
Tuesday’s matchup was Laguna’s final game of the year. It also capped a three-game run that had the Breakers playing ranked opponents.
That run began on Dec. 16 when they routed ML King, the No. 5 team in CIF-SS Division 3, 21-2. It continued last Saturday against Orange Lutheran, the seventh-ranked team in Division 1.
The Breakers took down the Lancers, 16-8, at Santa Margarita High. Makenzie Fischer had a game-high six goals. Baldridge, Salvini and Natalie Selin all scored three goals.
Laguna returns to the pool Jan. 2 for the Newport Holiday Cup. The Breakers are the tournament’s defending champion.
Boys’ Basketball
The Breakers competed Monday at the North/South Challenge at El Toro High, and came away with a resounding 78-54 victory over Ocean View.
Junior guard Isaac Wulff, who would be named the game’s MVP, scored 20 points. Freshman wing Blake Burzell netted a game-high 25 points, junior guard Spencer Wong scored seven points, junior post Nick Rahder six points, junior wing Dylan Handel and freshman guard Charlie Rounaghi both had five points, junior wing Darin Richardson four points, and senior wing Samiar Tehrani and junior forward Teddy Papa both had two points.
The win put Laguna, which has four wins by 20 or more points, at 7-6 overall.
“We came out and played pretty solid from the start,” Laguna Coach Bret Fleming said. “They (Ocean View) are a team that presses and gets to you, and they try to make it and up-and-down game. I told the kids going in, that if they took care of the ball and kept them off our defensive boards, we’d score 80. If we didn’t, then they would score 80. Somebody, I felt, was going to score around 80 points.
“I thought Isaac (Wulff) had one of his best games in scoring and assists and taking care of the ball against the press. Blake (Burzell) probably had his best all-around game, and I thought Nick (Rahder) did a good job defensively. Overall, it was a good win for us.”
Laguna closed out play last Saturday (Dec. 20) at the Oxford Academy Tournament. The Breakers finished third in their pool play bracket and in their final game, lost, 44-40, to La Puente Bishop Amat. Wulff was named to the all-tournament team.
The Breakers are in San Diego this weekend for the 25th annual Torrey Pines Under Armour Holiday Classic. Seventy-two high school teams from nine states and Canada will be competing in five divisions.
The Breakers are one of 14 teams in the Governors Division of the tournament, and open at 7 p.m. Friday against Carson (Nev.) at Carlsbad High. The tournament continues Saturday and Monday, and concludes Tuesday.
“There’s going to be some really good competition for us this year,” said Fleming, whose program is making a return trip to the tournament. “We’ll be facing some pretty tough competition, and we will get an idea as to where we stand at this stage of the season.”
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Girls’ Basketball
Like their male counterparts, the Breakers took part in the North/South Challenge, and last Saturday they defeated Capistrano Valley, 41-30, at Mission Viejo High.
Junior forwards Alexandra Lewis and Sydney DeCarlo both posted a double-double with 14 points and 17 rebounds each. Sophomore guard Nicole Davidson scored eight points, sophomore guard Rachel Kenney four points, and freshman guard Jasmine Banks had one point.
The Breakers improved to 3-7.
“It was good to pick up a win to snap our four-game skid,” Laguna Coach Mark Lewis said. “The girls have worked hard and have been too close too many times. They deserved to get one.”
In a nonleague game Dec. 17, Laguna was in a close contest with visiting Newport Harbor, but the Sailors hit a couple of key three-point shots down the stretch and took advantage of costly turnovers by the Breakers to come away with a 42-37 win. Alexandra Lewis hit three three-pointers and had her first double-double of the week with 15 points and 15 rebounds. DeCarlo had 13 points and nine rebounds, and Davidson scored eight points.
“It was a great game and close throughout,” Mark Lewis said. “We have been competitive in all of our games. We have struggled to close them out, but are getting better in that department. I’m encouraged by our competitiveness each night.”
The girls’ basketball team also is in San Diego and is competing this weekend at the SoCal Holiday Prep Classic, considered one of the top girls’ tournaments in the country.
The Breakers are part of a seven-team Prep Division and play four games. They open against Valhalla at Valhalla High at 3:30 p.m. Friday. They also face Canyon Crest at 11 a.m. on Saturday at The Bishop’s School, Knight at 6:30 p.m. on Monday at West Hills High, and San Pasqual at 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday at Valhalla High.
“I am looking forward to the tourney and an opportunity for us to build upon our competitiveness and hopefully notch some more ‘Ws’,” Lewis said. “I’m also excited about the opportunity for the team to enjoy some time together for bonding and laughter that is provided because of basketball but isn’t about basketball.”
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Boys’ Soccer
The Breakers split their final two nonleague matches before heading into winter break.
In a Dec. 17 outing, Laguna took a 3-1 victory from visiting Beckman at Guyer Field on Dec. 17. Goals were scored by Logan Eastman, Zach Jacobs and Bruce Knill.
“This was an excellent and hard-fought result for the team,” Laguna Coach Dan Richards said. “Beckman has put together some very good results recently and their program has been getting stronger and stronger.”
“We had a very deliberate game plan for this opponent and the boys executed it perfectly. We knew we were going to have to play a very controlled game, restrict the space between our lines and then look to counter at speed.”
Richards said the Breakers “got a little luck” on their first two goals. An error by the Beckman goalie resulted in Eastman’s score, and a deflected shot/cross from Jacobs hit off a Patriots defender.
Beckman scored in the final five minutes to draw within 2-1, but Knill scored on what Richards called a “spectacular spike,” to make it 3-1.
Laguna also hosted Garden Grove Santiago on Dec. 19 at Guyer Field, and lost, 3-1, to the Cavaliers. Knill scored off an assist from Jacobs.
“Santiago was a very strong team with a talented roster,” Richards said. “We did a good job restricting the amount of chances they got but like any top team, they capitalized on a few of our mistakes and punished us.”
The Breakers return to action on Jan. 7 for a 4:45 p.m. home nonleague game against Crean Lutheran.
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Girls’ Soccer
The Breakers will be in the desert this weekend for two nonleague games. Their annual winter break trip has them playing Friday (11 a.m.) at Xavier Prep, and Saturday (10 a.m.) at Indio.
Coach Bill Rolfing said the Breakers (0-2-4) will be missing several players for the two games, due to “injury and college commitments.
“However, this is always a great trip with an opportunity for fun, travel and high level of soccer,” he said.
In a nonleague game last Saturday at Guyer Field, Laguna dropped a 3-1 nonleague match to visiting Laguna Hills which used two late goals to get the win.
Senior forward Paige Vitolo scored the equalizing goal to put Laguna in a 1-1 tie with the Hawks.
In a nonleague game played Dec. 18 at Guyer Field, Laguna and Ocean View battled to a 1-1 draw. Senior midfielder Audrey Pillsbury scored for the Breakers.
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Twitter: @MikeSciacca