Boys Basketball (10-14, 2-1)
Breakers played tough early on but could not hold off Marina and their talented player Jakob Alamudum, losing to the Vikings 64-54 last Friday night before a good-sized crowd at Dugger Gym. Breakers led well into the second period but faded just before the half. On Monday in a non-league contest, Laguna seemed asleep in the first quarter against Antelope Valley in a holiday game played in the early afternoon at Costa Mesa High School. Down 27-24 at the half, Laguna connected on five three-point shots in the third period and four more in the final quarter to out-score the Lopes 43-17 in the second half for an easy 67-44 final score. Nolan Naess scored 26, Lucas Kravitz and Willie Rounaghi each had 12 points to lead the scoring.
A SSCIF D2 playoff spot is still on the line with three games remaining in league play as Fountain Valley, Marina and Laguna are all tied at 2-1 after the first round. Breakers traveled to Fountain Valley on Jan. 23 and the final home game is Friday, Jan. 25, 7 p.m. at Dugger Gym when Laguna takes on Huntington Beach. Breakers are at Marina on Jan. 30.
Girls Basketball (16-9, 0-4)
Laguna suffered two more league losses, losing 65-38 to Fountain Valley on Jan. 17 and 49-25 to Newport Harbor on Tuesday, Jan. 22. Breakers are hoping for an at-large bid for the D5A playoffs in February and are currently ranked 8th in the latest poll issued on Jan. 21. Freshman Anna Cheng scored a season high 20 points in the Fountain Valley game.
Boys Soccer (3-7-3, 0-3-0)
Breakers played close but suffered two more losses in league play, losing 2-0 at Huntington Beach on Jan. 16 and 1-0 to Marina on Jan. 18. Laguna’s season will conclude with a game on Jan. 23 at Fountain Valley, Huntington Beach here on Jan. 25, and at Marina on Jan. 30.
Girls Soccer (4-9-3, 2-1-1)
Laguna stayed in the race for a playoff spot with a 4-1 victory over Fountain Valley (7-8-4, 1-2-1) on Jan. 17at Laguna. Breakers then came back on Tuesday, Jan. 22, to battle Newport Harbor (14-2-6, 3-0-1) to a 1-1 tie. Laguna needs to get at least a tie in one of their last two remaining league contests to qualify for the D3 playoffs – Jan. 24 at Marina or Jan. 29 at Fountain Valley. Laguna has gone 2-3-3 against the Sunset Conference teams in the toughest stretch of games in the program’s history.
Girls Water Polo (18-1, 4-0)
Breakers battled to maintain their quest for the Sunset Surf title with a pair of recent big wins. On Jan. 17, Laguna defeated Corona del Mar 8-7 at the Sea Queen pool to snap their 119 consecutive league match win streak that stretches back to Jan. 10, 2001, when the Breakers defeated them 9-6 at the Laguna.
The Sea Queens (13-4, 3-1) seemed inspired to keep the streak alive and took an early 1-0 lead in the latest match defending the Breakers who missed on their first six shot attempts. Molly Renner finally scored on a power play opportunity with just under a minute remaining in the quarter. The hosts came right back and scored on a power play of their own with 18 seconds left to carry a 2-1 lead into the second quarter.
Breakers tied the game midway in the second period off a skip shot by Morgan Van Alphen but Corona quickly countered and scored to take their third lead. Within a minute, Nicole Struss took a pass from Emma Lineback to tie the contest at three which remained the score into the third period.
In the third, Corona scored at the 4:27 mark followed by another Struss goal at 4:12. 90 seconds later, Corona del Mar was awarded a five-meter penalty shot and scored to take a 5-4 advantage at 2:48 left in the period. Breakers battled and Claire Kelly scored on a power play off a pass from Van Alphen to tie the contest. Breakers finally got a break at the buzzer as Tea Poljak tossed a soft shot from nearly mid pool for a goal and the lead.
In the wild fourth period, Laguna took an early two-score advantage when Van Alphen scored at 5:55. Following three exchanges of possessions, Corona del Mar connected on consecutive tries to tie the contest with just two minutes remaining. As the closing seconds approached, Nicole Struss stole the ball right in front of the Laguna cage and the Breakers rushed to the Sea Queen goal. Emma Lineback drew an exclusion followed by Struss taking a point blank shot to the cage then firing the rebound for the game winning score with 16 seconds left. The last shot by Corona was solid as time expired and was tipped over the cage by Quinn Winter for her eighth save. Laguna now has won 11 straight in the 36-match series.
On Monday, Jan. 21, Laguna had little resistance in an 8-3 win over Newport Harbor (12-8, 1-3) at the Sailor’s pool. Rachael Carver and Morgan Van Alphen each scored twice with single scores by Cici Stewart, Emma Singer, Molly Renner and Tea Poljak. It was the Breaker’s 10th straight win over the Tars, which finally gives Laguna the series lead at 11-10.
Breakers played Los Alamitos (8-11, 0-4) this past Wednesday night in League play then began their first of five games in the 24th Annual Southern California Championships at Irvine. Laguna lost in the finals last year 8-6 to Dos Pueblos which snapped their string of four consecutive titles. Breakers are the #1 seed and should face Corona del Mar in the semifinals.
Next week the league title will be decided on Jan. 29, 7:30 p.m. against Corona del Mar at the Newport Harbor pool.
SSCIF Poll for Jan. 22:1 – Laguna Beach, 2 – Orange Lutheran, 3 – Foothill, 4 – Corona del Mar, 5 – Dos Pueblos, 6 – San Marcos, 7 – Newport Harbor, 8 – Santa Barbara, 9 – Schurr, 10 – Mater Dei
Team statistical leaders through Match 19:
Goals scored: 32 – Molly Renner, 27 – Morgan Van Alphen, 26 – Tea Poljak, , 25 – Nicole Struss
Assists: 23 – Molly Renner, 22 – Claire Kelly, 22 – Tea Poljak, 15 – Emma Lineback
Steals: 29 – Quinn Winter, 23 – Molly Renner, 23 – Claire Kelly, 14- Grace Houlahan & Tea Poljak
Exclusions drawn: 25 – Imani Clemons, 23 – Emma Lineback, 20 – Nicole Struss, 17 – Tea Poljak, 12 – Molly Renner
WRESTLING (0-3)
Breakers struggled this season in the Sunset Wave league losing to Newport Harbor, Hunting Beach and Corona del Mar. League finals are Feb. 1 at Fountain Valley.
