Breakers Face Walnut in D2A Playoffs
Boys Basketball (12-15, 4-2)
Laguna, the second-place finisher in the Sunset Wave League, will travel this Friday night, Feb. 8, to Walnut to face the Mustangs (21-7) at their gym. Walnut finished second to Los Altos (23-5) in the Hacienda League, placing ahead of their league rivals Diamond Ranch, South Hills, West Covina, and Charter Oak. Their top scorer is Eli Ramos, a 6-3 senior averaging 17.9 points per game. Laguna has only one player taller than the Walnut lineup—top scorer Nolan Naess (6-7) is averaging 19.4 points per game this season. The winner will face either Diamond Bar (21-6) or Long Beach Wilson (11-16) on Tuesday, Feb. 12. Breakers will host if they and Diamond Bar win on Friday.
Last Wednesday, Naess was held to 11 points as Marina rolled to the league title with 45-30 win over the Breakers. Laguna was in the game tied at 28 but could only score two points in the final period.
Girls Basketball (16-11, 0-6)
CIF decided not to give any at-large slots for division D5A this year—the only playoff group not to allow at least one at-large team—thus leaving the #8 ranked Breakers the only ranked team to be left out of post-season play. Breakers should move up at least a division next season and should have a better chance for post-season pla
Statistical Leaders:
Scoring: Anna Cheng (Fr) 263 points, 11.0 average; Mia Pitz (Sr) 240 points, 8.9 average
3-pointers: 56 – Cheng
Rebounds: 252 – Madilyn Garwal (Jr)
Assists: 78 – Mia Pitz (Sr)
Steals: 73 – Mia Pitz (Sr)
Boys Soccer (4-9-3, 1-5-0)
Laguna closed out a disappointing season with a 6-0 rout of Marina on Jan. 30 at the Viking campus for their first league victory. Breakers lost three of their five league losses by one goal.
Girls Soccer (4-10-5, 2-2-2)
Breakers played their first round D3 playoff game this past Tuesday at Guyer Field. Should the Breakers get past Brea (14-10-2), they would either host Riverside Poly or play south in Torrance on Friday, Feb. 8. Laguna has been without Reilyn Turner, the team’s all-time scorer who is recovering from an ankle injury received on Jan. 22 against Newport Harbor.
Girls Water Polo (26-1, 5-0) Sunset Surf League Champions
#1 Breakers Poised for CIF Run
SSCIF D1 playoffs opened on Thursday, Feb. 7, with the Breakers hosting #8 Mater Dei in a contest played at Foothill High School. (The Laguna Community Pool is not a regulation full-size pool for water polo). If Laguna prevailed, the semifinal contest against either San Marcos or Foothill would be Wednesday, Feb. 13 at Irvine’s Wollett Center (times not yet announced). All eight places will be played out, so the eight D-1 teams are guaranteed three games unlike the typical “one loss and your done” format for most CIF playoff divisions. Finals will be Saturday, Feb. 16, at the Woollett Center.
Last Friday, the Breakers concluded the regular season with an easy 16-3 win over Baseline League champion Los Osos (13-14). Eleven different players scored in the senior day event that saw Laguna jump out to an 11-2 halftime lead. Top individual performers included Jessie Rose with five steals, Tea Poljak with four assists, Cici Stewart with three goals, and Imani Clemons drawing three exclusions.
All five of the team’s graduating seniors were honored in the post-game ceremony. Claire Kelly will attend UCSB; Quinn Winter will play at UCLA; Evie Laptin at UCSB; Bryn Giofreddi at Brown; and Cici Stewart at Princeton.
Breakers are in their 22nd season of girls polo and have won 510 career program wins, trailing only Foothill by nine, but the Knights have played 23 seasons. Newport and Santa Barbara are next on the all-time list at 500 wins entering the playoffs.
Team statistical leaders through Match 27:
Goals scored: 41 – Molly Renner, 38 -Tea Poljak, 37 – Nicole Struss, 35 – Morgan Van Alphen, 30- Emma Lineback
Assists: 32 – Claire Kelly & Tea Poljak, 31 – Molly Renner, 23 – Emma Lineback, 22 – Nicole Struss
Steals: 45 – Quinn Winter, 34 – Claire Kelly, 29 – Tea Poljak, 28 – Molly Renner, 26 – Jessie Rose
Exclusions drawn: 35 – Emma Lineback, 32 – Imani Clemons, 22 – Nicole Struss, 22 – Tea Poljak, 14 – Molly Renner
Saves: 207 – Quinn Winter
Laguna’s JV squad, under the tutelage of Yoshi Anderson and Mackenzie Beck, finished 18-7 on the year including participation in two varsity tournaments. The season concluded last week with Laguna taking the JV Championship tournament at Santiago Canyon College. Skylar Kidd was named MVP of the event.
Spring Sports Start This Weekend:
Baseball
Jeff Sears returns for his third season with Laguna (seventh all-time) as the Breakers open the season with a doubleheader at Beckman. The Newport Elks tournament starts on Feb. 13 with Laguna facing Cerritos at 3 p.m. at Skipper Carrillo Field. Laguna is in the Costa Mesa Division. The tournament website iswww.newportelks.usapremiersports.com.
Breakers will be in the Sunset Wave League with Corona del Mar, Newport Harbor and Marina. Teams will play each other three times in league pla
Softball
James Crawford is also back for his third season, and the Breakers will compete in the Sunset Wave League along with Newport Harbor, Corona del Mar and Fountain Valley. Breakers open the season on Friday, Feb. 15, at Bolsa Grande.
Boys Golf
Sean Quigley is back for his third season managing the boys golf squad, which will compete in the Sunset Wave League along with Los Alamitos, Marina and Fountain Valley. First match of the year is Feb. 26 with Ocean View.
Boys Lacrosse
The first varsity season is this year under coach Chris Nunziata, who guided the inaugural group last year through a JV schedule. Breakers will compete in the seven-team Sunset League with Corona del Mar, Edison, Huntington Beach, Marina, Los Alamitos, and Newport Harbor. Season opens Tuesday, March 5, at Guyer Field when Laguna will host Portola at 5 p.m.
Girls Lacrosse
New coach Robert Sant, Jr. takes over the Breaker program that went 0-17 last season as an independent. This year the squad will compete in the Sunset league with Corona del Mar, Newport Harbor, Los Alamitos, and Edison.
Boys Volleyball
Doug Mauro is back for his second year and the D1 Breakers with a veteran squad will face their toughest schedule in years. Laguna will scrimmage Mater Dei this Saturday at 3 p.m. at Dugger Gym, then open the season next Saturday, Feb. 16, at the Tesoro Tournament. Breakers are in the Sunset Surf League along with Corona del Mar, Huntington Beach, and Newport Harbor. The 34th Annual Alumni game is slated for Friday, April 26, at Dugger Gym.
Breakers will be wearing a patch on their uniform this season to honor the late Rolf Engen, who was instrumental in the success of the program in the 1970s and early 80s.=
Swimming (Boys & Girls)
Kari Damato is coaching, and the Breakers will compete in the Sunset Wave League along with Marina, Edison, Huntington Beach. Dual meets begin in March.
Track & Field (Boys & Girls)
Tommy Newton-Neal takes over the boys program, while Steve Lalim is back for his 12th season at the helm of the girls program. The Trophy Meet is scheduled for March 16 and the dual meets begin at Hulst Oval on March 13 with Edison. Track is in the Sunset Wave League with Huntington Beach, Newport Harbor, and Marina.
Boys Tennis
Rick Conkey is back for his third season as the defending D4 CIF champion squad will now compete in D3 and in the Sunset Wave League with Edison (D2), Marina (D3), and Newport Harbor (D2). Only the top two teams in league are guaranteed to post-season play. Tennis opens play on Monday, Feb. 11, with Dana Hills on the Laguna courts.
