Five-Sport Sweep is a School First
Laguna experienced a first in their sports history as all five winter squads qualified for post-season play, hosted their initial post-season contests and won their initial events. Four of the teams went on to host second round contests.
Boys Basketball (23-5, 10-0)
Laguna takes Two in Playoffs
For the first time since 1992, Laguna won their opening two games in the Southern Section CIF playoff and will finish the season with at least the second best win percentage and victories in 80 seasons of basketball at the school.
Breakers opened the playoffs on Wednesday, Feb. 19, with a 58-42 victory over Rosemead’s Don Bosco Tech at Dugger Gym as the play of Matt Jones (15 points) and Bryan Ludloff (8 points) made the difference with the duo scoring when the visitor’s defensive efforts were focused on Laguna’s big three threats in Alec Wulff, Noah Blanton, and Josh Adams. Blanton was steady throughout the game and finished with 21 points.
On Friday night, Laguna rallied past a capable Whittier Christian squad 67-55 before a good size crowd at Dugger Gym. Breakers were down by nine points in the second period, trailing 22-13. The team battled back with Wulff scoring six points, Blanton two and Adams adding a free throw to close the gap to five points at the intermission. Laguna came out firing in the second half as Wulff hit three long rangers, Blanton added three baskets, with Jones, Ludloff and Adams flawless from the charity line.
The Breakers defense stifled the Heralds as Laguna outscored them by 20 points before the subs took over. Wulff finished the evening with 26 points, Blanton adding 12, Ludloff 10, Adams 9, Matt Jones 8 and Isaac Wulff 2. The win was the first over the Olympic League squad in four tries.
Quarterfinals were held on Tuesday and semifinals will be Feb. 28 and the finals will be next weekend.
Milestones: Wulff moved into No. 4 all-time in season and career 3-point baskets. Blanton is No. 3 on the all-time career rebound list.
Girls Water Polo (28-1, 4-0)
Laguna Quest for Supremacy Underway
The Breaker juggernaut continues to roll through the Division I competition as the record setting squad opened CIF play with a pair of lopsided contests at home.
On Wednesday, Feb. 19, Laguna hammered Marina as the Breakers led 2-0 in the first minute before the Vikings (21-9) could even attempt a shot. Laguna used 13 different field players in the win. Marina recorded 11 saves on Laguna shots.
Laguna 23, Marina 5
Goals: 5 – M Fischer, Baldridge, 4 – A Fischer, 2 – Borkovec, Selin, 1 – Burnes, Evans, Jochim, Julson, Salvini
Assists: 4 – A Fischer, 3 – Baldridge, Borkovec, Evans, Selin, 2 – Lucidi, 1 – M Fischer, Salvini
Steals: 5 – Salvini, 3 – Parker, 2 – Borkovec, A Fischer, M Fischer, 1 – Baldridge, Beran, Evans, Julson, Knott
Saves: 7 – Knott, 4 – Parker
On Saturday afternoon, Laguna crushed the No. 10 ranked Irvine Vaqueros in the quarterfinal matchup. Breakers were up 3-0 on their first three possessions and before the visitors were even able to attempt a shot. Irvine recorded 7 saves as Laguna extended their win streak to 19.
Laguna 20, Irvine 1
Goals: 6 – M Fischer, 3 – Borkovec, A Fischer, 2 – Baldridge, Lucidi, 1 – Burnes, Evans, Julson, Salvini
Assists: 3 – Borkovec, 2 – Burnes, Evans, Fischer, Julson, 1 – Baldridge, Brock, A Fischer, Selin
Steals: 5 – M Fischer, 2 – Evans, Selin, 1 – Baldridge, Beran, Borkovec, Brock, A Fischer, Jochim, Knott, Parker, Salvini
Saves: 5 – Parker, 2 – Knott
Breakers played Los Alamitos on Wednesday night in their first meeting of the year with the winner advancing to the finals on Saturday, March 1, at Irvine’s Woollett Center. Match time will be set on Thursday. Check the Indy website for CIF playoff updates and follow the playoffs on Twitter at Frank Aronoff@LagunaSports
Girls Basketball (19-9, 8-2)
Breakers Fall in the Second Round
Laguna concluded another successful season just missing out on a quarterfinal appearance. This past Saturday, Feb. 22, at Dugger Gym, the Breakers could not get that pair of key baskets, falling to Cantwell-Sacred Heart from Montebello 49-45. Jackie Cenan finished with 23 points while Jane Wallin closed out her Laguna career with 16. Earlier on Thursday, Feb. 20, Laguna rallied in the second half to run past Archer School for Girls 66-59 in an opening round contest at Dugger Gym. Jackie Cenan was unstoppable scoring 36 points while Jane Wallin added 21, Nicole Davidson had 5 points and Francesca Cecutti scored 4.
Laguna will return four starters next season including hot-shooting Jackie Cenan, who is already second on the career scoring list with 999 points in her first two seasons.
Boys Soccer (10-6-5, 7-2-1)
Laguna Defeats Crossroads in Shootout
Zach Jacobs scored the winning goal in a shootout on Thursday, Feb. 20, at Guyer Field to send the Breakers to the second round of the Division V playoffs this past Tuesday in Baldwin Park. The game was tied at 2-2 after regulation and no team scored in the two 10-minute overtime sudden-death overtime periods. The visiting Roadrunners missed the cage on their first shootout penalty kick and the fourth try was blocked. Chris Tellez, Jake Hexberg, and Harrison Gregory scored for Laguna before the deciding kick.
Said Coach Daniel Richards, “You could definitely tell this was a playoff game. It was the first time that any of our players have played a home game in CIF and I’m sure they learnt a lot from it. There was a great crowd and the whole program really appreciates the community coming out to support us.”
“The Crossroads team definitely upped their game and started to ask some real questions of our back line,” Richards said. “Rory (Saunders) and Jake (Hexberg) were terrific for us in the middle along with Dante (Amodeo) throughout the game.”
If the Breakers win this past Tuesday, quarterfinals were to be played Thursday, Feb. 27, and semifinals on March 4.
Girls Soccer (13-5-4, 7-1-2)
Breakers Surprise Chaffey 2-0 – Set Victory Record
Laguna defeated the visiting Tigers, the second place squad from the Sun Belt League on Friday, Feb. 21, at Guyer Field as Autumn Geil scored in the first half off a corner kick by Regan Caraher. Regan added an unassisted goal in the second half to seal the win and set a school record for season victories in the 33rd year of the program. The previous win record was 12 victories in 1997. Coach Bill Rolfing is now 81-95-46 in 10 seasons with the girls and 127-125-66 overall including the five seasons with the boys from 1979-83. Breakers have only given up one goal in the past eight matches and 14 for the season, lowest ever in the program’s history.
Laguna hosted fourth-ranked seed Serrano, the Mojave League Champs, this past Wednesday and a win would send them to the quarterfinals this Friday, Feb. 28.
SPRING Sports – Opening Dates:
Boys Tennis opens this week, all others begin next week
Baseball: Thu March 6 – Newport Elks Tmnt vs Orange
Boys Golf: Mon March 3 vs Aliso Niguel @ Ben Browns
Softball: Tue March 4 @ University
Swimming: Wed March 5 vs Pacifica
Boys Tennis: Tue Feb 25 @ Sage Hill
Track & Field: Thu March 6 @ El Dorado
Boys Volleyball: Tue March 4 vs Newport Harbor 5:30PM @ Dugger Gym
