Breakers Take 7th Straight Holiday Cup
Girls Water Polo (11-0)
Laguna confirmed their #1 status this past week, rolling to another Barnett Holiday Cup title, a 16-team tournament that featured the top 9 teams in Southern California. The tournament is named for the late Bill Barnett, a Laguna resident and Olympic coach who started the tournament. Breakers have won 15 of the past 18 major in-season tournaments they have entered since 2013.
Laguna 22, Edison 1 (Dec. 27 @ Newport Harbor)
Breakers cleared the bench early as Laguna defeated the Chargers for the 22nd time without a loss. Molly Renner and Skyler Kidd led in scoring with four goals. Thirteen different players scored, three goal keepers saw action.
Laguna 10, Carlsbad 3 (Dec. 27 @ Newport Harbor)
Emma Lineback scored early and often dominating the #1 San Diego squad with a 7-0 halftime lead. Lineback finished with four goals, two assists and two steals. Nicole Struss added three goals, three drawn exclusions, an assist and two steals.
Laguna 16, Newport Harbor 7 (Dec. 28 @ Newport Harbor)
Breakers scored on seven of their first nine possessions against the Sailors (8-1) Emma Lineback had another huge game scoring four goals, adding three assists and three steals. Kenedy Corelett had two early power-play goals, Nicole Struss provided three goals, three assists, and two exclusions.
Laguna 15, San Marcos 8 (Dec. 28 @ Newport Harbor)
Breakers easily handled the Royals for the second time this season and led 11-4 at the intermission. Rachael Carver scored three goals and dished out four assists while Emma Lineback added four goals and three assists. Molly Renner drew two five-meter penalty shots and dished out two assists. Lauren Schneider (Fr) had seven saves in the cage. San Marcos got to the finals with wins over Coronado, Corona del Mar and Foothill.
The top 10 key starters and rotation field players so far have been Morgan Van Alphen (Sr), Rachael Carver, Imani Clemons, Kenedy Corlett, Skylar Kidd, Emma Lineback, Molly Renner, Jessie Rose and Nicole Struss (Jrs), Ava Houlahan (So). Returning starter Grace Houlahan has been out for the past eight games. Lauren Schneider (Fr) is the starting goalkeeper and is playing like a top veteran.
Order of Finish @ the Holiday Cup: 1 – Laguna, 2 – San Marcos, 3 – Newport Harbor, 4 – Foothill, 5 – O Lutheran, 6 – Santa Margarita, 7 – Carlsbad, 8 – Corona del Mar, 9 – Mater Dei, 10 – Harvard-Westlake, 11 – Santa Barbara, 12 – San Clemente, 13 – Los Osos, 14 – Edison, 15 – Coronado 16 – Riverside Poly.
Up next: Laguna will play Foothill on Saturday, Jan. 4, 10 a.m. at Foothill (no admission charge) then will open league hosting Newport Harbor on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 5 p.m. at Corona del Mar’s pool. Breakers will be looking for their 55th consecutive league victory in a streak that covers 14 years all the way back to 2006. No question the Tars will be Laguna’s key league rival this season.
Laguna will then be off to Santa Barbara for the 21st annual TOC on Jan. 10 and 11. Laguna won the tournament in 2014, 2015 and 2017 finishing third in 2016 and last season. Breakers did not participate in the 2018 even that was re-scheduled due to floods.
Stats after 11 games:
Goals: 30 – Lineback, 25 – Struss, 23 – Renner, 15 – R Carver, 12 – Van Alphen
Assists: 26 – R Carver, 18 – Lineback, 17 – Singer, 14 – Rose, 10 – Renner
Steals: 19 – R Carver, 14 – Renner, 12 – A Houlahan, 11 – Kidd, Rose
Drawn Exclusions: 18 – Struss, 11 – Lineback, 10 – Clemons, 6 – Singer, 4 – R Carver, Rose, Renner
Boys Basketball (11-5)
Laguna finished third in the 30th annual Torrey Pines Holiday Classic, a 60-team tournament organized into five divisions.
Laguna 54, Patrick Henry (San Diego) 43, (Dec. 26 @ Cathedral Catholic HS)
Hot shooting Laguna made 56 percent of all basket attempts from the field to defeat the Patriots from San Diego. Nolan Naess scored 27 points while Willie Rounaghi added 15.
Laguna 55, Cypress 40 (Dec. 27 @ St. Augustine HS)
Willie Rounaghi’s seven three-pointers plus Lucas Kravitz with six long-rangers sank the Centurions. Breakers led 30-14 at the intermission.
Brighton (Utah) 56, Laguna 46 (Dec. 28 @ St. Augustine HS)
The Bengals from Salt Lake City took advantage of 14 trips to the free-throw line and 11 three-point shots to defeat Laguna. Nolan Naess scored 23 while Lucas Kravitz added 13. Willie Rounaghi dished out 11 assists.
Laguna Beach 44, Aliso Niguel 34 (Dec. 30 @ St. Augustine HS)
Willie Rounaghi scored 16 pints, Lucas Kravitz added 12, and Nolan Naess 10 as the Breakers defeated the Wolverines (10-7) for third place.
Laguna is at Newport Harbor on Jan. 3 at 7 p.m. in the first of four non-league cross-over games with the Sunset Wave League, and will host Edison at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 8. Laguna is at Corona del Mar on Jan. 10 and will host Los Alamitos on Jan. 15.
Girls Basketball (8-8)
Laguna was back in action on Jan. 2 with Los Alamitos (2-13) and on Friday, Jan. 3, with Estancia. Next week they host Corona del Mar (12-4) on Jan. 7 and travel to Edison (9-8) on Jan. 9.
Stats after 16 games:
Scoring: Anna Cheng 9.9 points/per game, 9.4 average – Kenna Rudolph, 8.6 Average – Sophie Marriner
Rebounds: M. Garwal 13.8 per game
Steals: Garwal – 45
Assists: Garwal – 41
Blocked shots: Julia Henry – 35
Boys Soccer (3-2-1)
The Andy Thomas squad will resume play on Jan. 8 when they host Edison at 6:30 p.m. at Guyer Field. Admission is free. Breakers travel to CdM on Jan. 10 and are back at Guyer Field on Jan. 15 to face Los Alamitos.
Girls Soccer (3-2-2)
Laguna returned to action this week with the non-league Sunset crossover matches beginning on Jan. 2 with a very tough D1 Los Alamitos (11-1-3), followed up on Jan. 7 hosting undefeated Corona del Mar (9-0). The non-league portion of the schedule will conclude on Jan. 9 at Edison (6-3-1) and Jan. 14 at Huntington Beach (4-4-5).
