Breakers Drench Their Competition
By Frank Aronoff | LB Indy
Girls Water Polo (4-0)
Still short-handed missing starter Aria Fischer, top-ranked Laguna dispatched fifth-ranked Orange Lutheran, the top Trinity League squad, 16-8 on Saturday, Dec. 20, at Santa Margarita. Breakers scored first as Makenzie Fischer hit on the first of her six goals off a Bella Baldridge pass after about one minute of play. She extended it to 2-0 on a long down pool pass from Holly Parker and Natalie Selin made it 3-0 off a pass by Fischer. Breakers scored again to make it 4-0 as Bella Baldrige stole the ball and drove all-the-way for a goal with 1:29 remaining in the opening period.
The Lancers added two very late goals in the first period off a lob shot and a penalty shot. Lutheran scored again on the opening possession of the second period but faded after that. Fisher quickly scored off a Haley Evans pass followed on the next possession by Brighid Burnes from a toss by Taylor Julson. Breakers led 8-4 at the half and were up 11-4 before the Lancers got a late third period score to make it 11-5 after three quarters. The whole squad played in the final period as the Breakers let up on their offensive pressure with nearly three minutes remaining in the contest. Laguna was two for four on power play opportunities while Lutheran could convert only on three of their nine advantaged situations.
Aria Fisher was expected to be cleared for the Tuesday, Dec. 23, showdown with Newport Harbor before the holiday break. Breakers will return to action on Jan. 2 and 3 at the Newport Holiday Cup featuring all of the top teams.
Breakers are defending champions hoping for their fourth straight major in-season tournament title. Laguna’s win streak is now at 25.
Breakers Go 2-3 in Tournament
Boys Basketball (6-6)
Breakers went 2-3 in the Oxford Academy tournament this past week opening play on Tuesday, Dec. 16, dropping a 68-59 contest to Savanna (7-2) despite Isaac Wulff’s 25 points. Blake Burzell was held to nine points in the contest. The following day Laguna continued in pool play easily taking down Laguna Hills 55-38 in the 45th meeting of the two schools. Breakers defeated host Oxford 64-48 on Thursday, Dec. 18, but dropped a 53-40 decision to Yorba Linda (10-2) on Friday. In their Saturday playoff game, Bishop Amat rallied in the second half to edge Laguna 44-40 with 18 points by Burzell.
This past week, Laguna faced Ocean View on Monday, Dec. 22, at El Toro in the annual North South Challenge before taking a holiday break. Laguna will participate in the 25th annual Torrey Pines High School Holiday Classic – Governor’s Division and will open play on Friday, Dec. 26, facing Carson (Nevada) at 7 p.m. at Carlsbad High School. You can check on the tournament at www.theholidayclassic.org
Through Dec. 20, Bret Fleming is now 303-218 in 12 games of his 20th season and is 128-101 for in-season tournaments. As for Blake Burzell’s assault on the freshman records – here is the top six frosh full season performances:
Season Player Gms Pts Ave.
2004 Cheyne Martin 24 398 16.6
1983 Coby Naess 23 232 10.1
2009 Jake Dalke 24 203 8.5
2015 Blake Burzell 11 189 17.2
1960 Ron Lutz 14 148 10.6
1964 Cam Smith 18 117 6.5
Girls Basketball (3-7)
Laguna defeated Capistrano Valley 41-30 on Saturday, Dec. 20 at Mission Viejo High School in the Girls Basketball North/South Challenge. Alexandra Lewis and Sydney DeCarlo both scored 14 points and pulled down 17 rebounds in the historic effort. Nicole Davidson, Rachel Kennedy and Jasmine Banks added points in Laguna’s first program victory over the Cougars in 13 tries.
Breakers will travel to San Diego after Christmas for the So Cal Holiday Prep Classic opening Friday, Dec. 26, 3:30 p.m. at Valhalla High School. Breakers continue play on Saturday, Dec. 27, 11 a.m., facing Canyon Crest at Bishops School in La Jolla and will play Knight on Monday, Dec. 29, 6:30 p.m. at West Hills in Santee. Their final game will be on Tuesday, Dec. 30, against San Pasqual, 12:30 p.m. at Valhalla High School.
Boys Soccer (2-4-1)
The squad split a pair of games this past week defeating Beckman 3-1 on Wednesday, Dec. 17, at Guyer Field as Logan Eastman, Zach Jacobs and Bruce Knill scored for Laguna. On Friday, Dec. 19, the squad dropped a 3-1 contest to Santiago/Garden Grove (5-1-1). Laguna is off for the holidays and return to play on Wednesday, Jan. 7, hosting Crean Lutheran.
Girls Soccer (0-2-3)
Breakers battled Ocean View to a 1-1 tie on Thursday, Dec. 18, at Guyer but dropped a 3-1 match on Saturday, Dec. 20, to Laguna Hills as the squad was short key players for the makeup contest that had been rained-out from the original scheduled date.
Breakers will head to the desert before the end of the year playing Xavier Prep on Friday, Dec. 26 and Indio on Saturday, Dec. 27. Breakers resume play after New Years with their alumni match on Saturday, Jan. 3, 11 a.m. at Guyer Field, and a pair of non-league matches: San Juan Hills on Tuesday, Jan. 6 and JSerra on Wednesday, Jan. 8.
