McKnight at Dugger Gym. The High School coaching legend brought his No. 1 ranked Monarchs to Dugger Gym for Mater Dei’s first basketball visit to Laguna since 1958. Photo By Frank Aronoff
Laguna Sports Update
Baseball (1-5, 7-12)
Breakers jumped out to a 5-0 lead and held off Newport Harbor to earn their first league win on May 15 at Skipper Carrillo Field. Laguna recorded six hits with Joey Capobianco and Ryan Strickland each collecting two. Griffin Naess went five of the seven innings to get the pitching victory while Ryan Strickland recorded the save. Naess had seven strikeouts. Laguna fell in the two other games in the series this week losing 19-5 and 12-1. Tars lead the all-time series 19-7.
This past week the league season concluded with a three-game series with Marina with the final game on May 22 at the Viking field.
Statistical Leaders after 19 games:
Batting Average: .298 – Max Burchi
Hits: 17 – Max Burchi
Runs: 10 – Joey Capobianco
2B: 6 – Max Burchi
3B: 1 – Nick Bonn
HR: none
RBI: 9 – Max Burchi
Stolen Bases: 5 – Nick Bonn
Innings Pitched: 35.1 – Shea Blanchard
StrikeoutS: 40 – Shea Blanchard
ERA: 3.712– Nick Bonn (26.2 innings)
Wins: 2 – Ryan Strickland, Shea Blanchard, Griffin Naess
Boys Basketball (3-1, 12-3)
Laguna saw their streak ended and they suffered a tough 0-3 week. The league season ended this past week with a Tuesday game at Newport Harbor and the regular season finale on May 20 with Edison. Basketball playoff brackets will be released on May 23.
In games last week:
Mater Dei 65, Laguna 32 on May 10, Dugger Gym
Cold shooting Laguna was no match for the talented Monarchs (23-0) who had little trouble in defeating Laguna on May 10 at Laguna. Coach Gary McKnight now in his 38th season did his student teaching at Laguna back in the 1970’s and was happy to return where his high school career started. The coach is 1159-110 as a head coach with 23 Southern Section titles
For Laguna, Nolan Naess scored 20 but the Breakers as a team were out rebounded 42-23 and shot only 29% to the visitors 44%.
Fountain Valley 48, Laguna 44 on May 12 at Fountain Valley.
Breakers dropped a tough physical non-league game with the Barons as they took advantage of the uneven officiating to pull away from Laguna late in the third period to hold on for the victory. Nolan Naess had 18 points, Jackson Sirianni 10, and Willie Rounaghi 9 to lead the team. The hosts went 14 for 14 from the line while Laguna was 13 of 19.
Los Alamitos 69, Laguna 57 on May 15 at Dugger Gym
The Griffins shot a torrid 60% from the three-point line to move into a first-place tie with the Breakers in a battle played at Laguna last Friday. Breakers played well but the hot shooting visitor were unstoppable from long distance where they collected 12 long rangers versus a respectable seven for the hosts. Both teams played Edison and Newport this past week to complete the league season.
Girls Basketball (1-4, 7-17)
Laguna won their first Sunset Wave League contest in three seasons as a member of the Conference with a 46-42 win over Marina (1-3, 3-17) on Monday night at Dugger Gym. Breakers broke a 24 all tie late in the third period to go on a 17-3 run to take control of the game. Laguna had lost 27 consecutive league games dating back to 2017 with their last win a 48-42 decision over Costa Mesa on February 6, 2017. Last Wednesday, the Breakers dropped a 32-30 at Mission Viejo and the following day they dropped a 75-40 game to league leader Newport harbor (5-0, 13-2).
Boys Golf (0-3, 0-8)
Laguna played two Laguna dual matches recently losing to Marina 189-215 on May 11 and to Los Alamitos on May 12 at the Navy Destroyer Course in Cypress. The low scorer for Laguna against Los Al was freshman Russell Franconi-Krychman with a 43—his low score of the season. Laguna had two other players shoot their season-low scores with Oliver Mackel shooting 45 and Luke Hendrickson shooting 48.
Girls Golf (0-3, 0-7)
The regular season concludes on May 24 and the league individual finals are scheduled for May 25-26 at Meadowlark.
Boys Soccer (3-3-0, 7-8-2)
Breakers suffered a tough 2-0 loss to No. 5 seed Aliso Niguel on May 13 at the Wolverine campus to end their season in the first round of the D2 playoffs.
Girls Soccer (4-2, 6-5)
Breakers battled but lost a heartbreaking 2-1 double overtime sudden death loss at South Hills in West Covina on May 12 in the SSCIF D2 first round. Baylor Lund score for the Breakers in regulation against the Huskies (10-1-1)
Ben Helm’s squad had a great season against very difficult competition playing at the highest level in the program’s history
Sand Volleyball (5-1)
The Varsity team defeated Los Alamitos in the OC League quarterfinals and played Huntington Beach in the semifinals this past Tuesday. The winners advanced to the finals the following day. In addition, the final two teams will qualify for the State Sand Volleyball Tournament which was cancelled last year. Laguna advanced to the State finals in 2018 and 2019.
May 11 at Newland Street Courts: Laguna Beach 4, Los Alamitos 3
1. Ella Tyus & Bella Mullen won 21-6, 21-19
2. Sydney Freeman & Luisa LoFranco lost 11-21, 18-21
3. Mikayla Smith & Sophie Black lost 19-21, 21-14, 13-15
4. Eva Gardner & Lucy Loughlin won 25-15, 22-20
5. Annabelle Kieswetter & Jacqueline Witteman lost 16-21, 18-21
4-Man (Tyus, Mullen, LoFranco, Smith) won 29-27
Swimming (Boys: 0-3, 0-5; Girls 3-0, 3-2)
Laguna Girls won the Wave League Dual Meet title with a solid 108-62 victory over Edison on May 11 at the Laguna Community Pool. Laguna swept all three relays and won five of eight individual events. On the Boys side, Edison numbers made the difference as they defeated Laguna 96-67. Will Kelly and Coleman Judd were double winners and Laguna swept both free relays.
Boys Varsity winners: 200 Free – Coleman Judd 1:48.63; 50 Free – Will Kelly 22.30; 100 Free – Will Kelly 48.59; 200 Free Relay – (Sai Bassett, Hutton Ledger, Coleman Judd, Will Kelly) 1:29.57, 400 Free Relay – (Judd, Bassett, Ledger, Kelly) 3:16.54
Girls Varsity winners:
200 Medley Relay – (Addie Hudzinski, Jana Jocic, Ava Houlahan, Skylar Kidd) 1:53.74; 200 Free – Jessie Rose 1:55.66; 50 Free – Ava Knepper 25.42; 100 Free – Jessie Rose 54.41; 500 Free – Emma Lineback 5:31.02; 200 Free Relay – ( Jana Jocic, Addie Hudzinski, Ava Knepper, Jessie Rose) 1:41.72; 100 Breast – Jana Jocic 1:06.46; 400 Free Relay – ( Ava Knepper, Molly Renner, Skylar Kidd, Jessie Rose) 3:42.39
League finals were held on May 21 at Ocean View High School. Expect results next week.
Track & Field (Boys: 0-3, 0-4; Girls 1-2, 0-4)
The track squad was swept by Huntington Beach on May 12 at Hulst Oval with the Oilers taking the Boys 105-9 and the Girls 87-22. The Sunset Wave League meet was held this week at Newport Harbor’s stadium.
Boys Tennis (5-1, 11-3)
Breakers entered the Division 2 playoffs this past week hosting Tesoro (4-5) on Thursday at Laguna. The winner will advance to the Second Round on Saturday facing # 6 ML King (15-2) or Palm Springs. Quarterfinals are May 24, Semifinals on May 26, and the finals are on May 28.
In 87 seasons of Boys Tennis, Laguna has made the playoffs 48 times advancing to the finals 10 times with four titles (1973-80-82 and 2018) Rick Conkey is in his fifth season guiding the Breakers with a 54-23 record in team play.
Last week in the Sunset Wave League tournament, Casey Boehm and Matt Berk won the doubles title defeating teammates Jeff and Chris Herkins 6-0, 6-2.
Girls Tennis (4-2, 9-6)
Laguna’s 2020-21 team season ended in a first round loss at Camarillo in the DI playoffs at the two teams split their matches 9-9 but the Breakers lost on games 66-62. Laguna won all the singles matches but were completely dominated in doubles only winning seven games. The sport returns to the traditional fall season play in only three months.
Boys Volleyball (0-5, 1-11)
The Breakers’ coronavirus-shortened season concluded on May 10 at Newport Harbor where the fourth-ranked Tars swept the Breakers 25-12, 25-15, 25-18. Oskar Hingel led the team in kills and digs. Trent Gillis, Mack Pardun and Laird Garcia each had a solo block.
This past Sunday, the squad met for their team awards with Coach Stewart announcing the winners for 2021: Coach’s Award- Trey Ovens, Defensive Player – Jake Mauro, Offensive Player – Oskar Hingel, and Captain – Tent Gillis. For the JV – Coach’s – Hayden Gamble, Offensive Player – Ethan Spiegel, Defensive Playr – Francisco Capano, and Captain – Logan Ribarich.
Looking for the latest Laguna scores ?
Go to the athletics department website at lbhs.lbusd.org/athletics/teams for the updated schedules and where the scores get posted first.
Laguna Beach High School – Athletic Teams Ninth Grade Tryouts
Laguna Beach High School will be hosting incoming 9th grade and new student tryouts on June 11.
The schedule including the time and facility is included below. If you have any question about athletic tryouts the head coaches’ contact information can be found on our athletic website. https://lbhs.lbusd.org/athletics/coaches
You are also welcome to email athletic director Lance Neal with any questions at [email protected].
Tryout time/location by Sport
Boys Basketball / 8 to 10 a.m. / Dugger Gym
Boys and Girls Cross Country / 9 to 11 a.m. / Stadium Track
Boys VB / 9:30 to 10:30 a.m./ North Gym
Boys Soccer / 10 to 11 a.m. / Stadium
B/G LAX / 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. / Stadium
Football / 12 to 1 p.m. / Stadium
Girls Soccer / 1 to 2 p.m. / Stadium
B/G Water Polo / 2 to 3 p.m. / Pool
B/G Golf / 3 to 4 p.m. / Ben Brown
Softball / 3 to 4 p.m. / Stadium Field
Baseball / 3 to 5 p.m. / Baseball Field
B/G Tennis / 3 to 5 p.m. / Tennis Courts
Girls VB / 4 to 5:30 p.m. / North Gym
Girls Basketball / 5 to 7 p.m. / Dugger Gym
