WINTER SPORTS
Boys Basketball (12-13, 1-5)
Laguna almost repeated the meltdown with Newport Harbor on Jan. 19 but held on to edge the Sailors 45-43 on Feb. 3 at the Tars’ gym. The victory allowed the Breakers to finish the league season tied with Newport (15-13, 1-5) for third. Jackson Sirianni scored 18 points and had 9 rebounds while Kai Gillies added 14 points.
Laguna decided not to schedule a last-minute non-league contest to reach a .500 overall record despite the offer of scheduling help from a number of coaches. Had Laguna played and won—the lone Division 1 unfilled at-large spot would have been a trip to No. 1 seed Riverside Poly (25-2). Breakers are missing the playoffs for the first time since 2006 but have never been classified in their 88 seasons in the top division like this season.
Last week on Feb. 1, Los Alamitos (20-7) jumped out to an early lead and never looked back defeating Laguna 63-41 at the Griffin’s gym. Max Burchi scored 12 points and Jackson Sirianni added 11.
Scoring statistics are posted on the Laguna Boys Basketball page at Max Preps.
Girls Basketball (17-11, 3-3)
Breakers are seeded No. 3 in the D5AA playoffs qualifying for post season for the first time since 2016 and only the 11th time in the program’s history. Breakers are only 4-10 in the playoffs but could make a deep run this year.
Last Friday the Breakers lost a special post-season playoff game with Edison (D3A) for the league’s automatic playoff spot in a contest played at Fountain Valley (an identical copy of Edison’s home gym). Breakers took an early lead but unraveled in the second period as the Chargers made their outside shots and were successful from the charity stripe down the stretch. Sophie Marriner (Jr) scored 18 points and collected 15 rebounds. Alexandra Grombchevsky (So) hit on three 3-point shots scoring 11 points band Katie Cheng (Fr) also scored 11.
On Feb. 2 the team lost to league champion Newport Harbor, a D2A team, 59-35 and never contended against the Tars (19-8, 6-0).
Playoff outlook – Only No. 1 seed Capistrano Valley Christian looks dominate as the remaining division is anyone’s game. Breakers lost to CVC in the season opener 87-38 and would like a rematch. Breakers open on Saturday February 12 at Loara (11-11, Garden Grove No. 2) and if they win could possibly host either Coast Union (7-4) or Palm Desert (10-10) on Feb. 16. Quarterfinals are slated for Feb. 19. Tipoff is 7 p.m. For individual season and game statistics see the Laguna page at Max Preps.com.
Boys Soccer (4-12, 0-6)
The 2022 season concluded with Laguna losing two more contests to extend their losing streak to nine straight. On Feb. 1 the Breakers lost 3-0 to Newport Harbor and on Feb. 3 they lost 6-0 to league champion Huntington Beach.
Girls Soccer (6-8-2, 3-3-0)
Breakers defeated league champion Newport 1-0 on a goal by Jordan Sprague to finish in a second place tie with Marina in the Sunset Wave League. Laguna lost the automatic berth to post season by virtue of their two losses to the Vikings in league play. Only three teams were selected for at-large spots in Division 1.
Earlier last week, Laguna defeated Fountain Valley 2-0 on Jan. 31 at the Barons’ field. Baylor Lund scored on a penalty kick and Candance Perry provided the other goal.
Girls Water Polo (23-5, 4-2)
Breakers are seeded No. 2 in the Open Division playoffs that opened this past Thursday where they faced San Marcos (14-7) in a “home game” at Newport Harbor’s full-size pool for the fourth meeting this season between the two opponents. The Royals have a skilled shooter in Ava Stryker who can quickly equalize the game. Breakers hold a 21-3 series advantage but the coaches remember the 2018 playoff loss at the Newport Harbor’s pool when the Royal’s buzzer shot gave them an 8-7 2OT upset win over Laguna.
Should Laguna prevail they would see the winner of the top Trinity teams, Mater Dei or Orange Lutheran on Feb. 16 at Irvine’s Woollett Center. Finals are set for Feb. 19.
Last week, Laguna finished the regular season with an easy 12-5 victory over Corona del Mar (15-13, 0-6) at the Sea Queen’s pool. The victory was the 20th consecutive series win over CdM since 2013.
Stat Leaders thru 28 games:
Goals: 66 – Ava Houlahan, 62 – Ava Knepper, 58 – Charlotte Riches
Steals: 56 – Ava Houlahan, 34 – Ava Knepper, 30 – Lauren Schneider
Assists: 39 – Ava Houlahan, 30 – Lela McCarroll, 28 – Cleo Washer
Drawn Exclusions: 51 – Charlotte Riches, 29 – Ava Houlahan, 17 – Cleo Washer, 14 – Hannah Carver
Wrestling –Breakers Sixth at Sunset Championships – Four Grapplers Advance to CIF
Laguna Wrestling enjoying its most successful year qualified four wrestlers to the Central Division Individual Championships to be held on Friday-Saturday February 11 and 12 at Fountain Valley High School.
As an eight-team league – the top four finishers in each of the 14 weight divisions advance. In 2018, Breakers sent three grapplers to the playoffs. Qualifying: 140 – James Kramer (4th), 154 – Micah Chavez (4th), 184 – Jeremy Kanter (4th), 198 – Malik Hassen (3rd). Breakers are coached by Bobby Morales.
Sunset Championships Team scores: 1 – Fountain Valley 265, 2 – Corona del Mar 199.5, 3 – Newport Harbor 161, 4 – Los Alamitos 152, 5 – Marina 109.5, 6 – Laguna Beach 71, 7 – Edison 70, 8 – Huntington Beach 30.
SPRING SPORTS
Baseball
Jario Ochoa will be serving as interim head coach this season. Ochoa has been the pitching coach for Laguna since 2018 and played at University High in Irvine and later at Chapman University where Jeff Sears served as an assistant coach. Chapman won the Division 3 College World Series in 2003 (he was 9-1 as a pitcher). Season opens Feb. 12 hosting Long Beach Poly, 11 a.m. at Skipper Carrillo Field. Breakers will be in the Newport Elks Tournament next week
Boys Golf
Sean Quigley is back for his sixth year with the program in the very challenging Sunset Wave League. Season opens in March with Estancia in a non-league dual match.
Lacrosse
Under Paul Storke – the Boys schedule has not been released and the Girls will be only playing a JV level schedule this season.
Sand Volleyball
Veteran coach Dane Selznick returns and the Breakers will be ready for their first Sunset League run under full CIF sponsorship with playoffs set for April. For the past eight years Laguna has been a club program with a 77-18 all-time record.
Softball
Successful Girls Basketball coach, Matt Tietz takes over the helm as the Breakers will be fielding a team in 2022 after a ghost appearance last season. Play will get underway in March.
Swimming & Diving
Kari Damato resumes the leadership for the swim program in 2022 and hopes to repeat as Wave League Champions for girls this season
Boys Tennis
Rick Conkey returns as head coach for his sixth season and the defending Wave League champions will be in top Southern Section CIF Division 1 this season for only the second time in 88 seasons.
Track & Field
Season begins in March.
Boys Volleyball
Lance Stewart is back for his third season in this stint as head coach and his 14th overall with the boys at Laguna (1988-90, 2004-11). Breakers begin their 51st season overall and the 48th with post-season play. Season opens on Feb. 23 at St Margaret’s. League play (Huntington, Newport, Corona del Mar) begins on March 23.
Looking for the latest Laguna scores, rosters, and schedules?
Go to the department website at lbhs.lbusd.org/athletics/teams for the updated schedules and where the scores get posted first for all levels!
