League play entered the second half of the season this past week with the basketball and soccer squads playing at Saddleback early in the week and at Calvary later this week, Breakers are competing in five winter season sports with Girls Water Polo the only prohibitive favorite to sweep to the league crown. Boys Basketball is on-track to earn their sixth straight title baring a second half stumble and Girls Soccer appears to have a shot at earning their first league title in the sport’s thirty-one year history at Laguna. Boys Soccer has had some tough matches recently and is in need of a signature win to get back into the playoff hunt .Girls Basketball is just hoping for a win to avoid their first winless season in five years,
Last week:
Boys Basketball (4-0, 11-9)
Laguna made it 14 straight over Costa Mesa (3-1, 14-6) as the Breakers won the battle for first place in the Orange Coast League with a 63-50 victory over the Mustangs last Friday night at Dugger Gym. Mesa held a 15-12 lead after one quarter as Laguna continued to struggle in the opening minutes of their league games this season but six different Breakers scored in the second period giving Laguna a 28-21 lead at the intermission. In the second half, Brandon Lewis hit a pair of three-point shots and Laguna benefited from the charity stripe in the fourth period to coast to another league win. Cole Kesler led the squad with 18 points while Jake Dalke added 15. Brandon Lewis hit for nine and Tyler Masukawa battling injuries all season added nine points too.
Earlier last week, Breakers traveled to Godinez and defeated the Grizzlies (1-3, 12-8) 45-35. Derek Reigel led Laguna with 10 points. This week Laguna faced Saddleback (0-4, 7-11), and Calvary Chapel (1-3, 4-16) in league play and are on the road next week to Estancia (3-1, 12-9) before meeting Mesa again on February 3 at the Mustang gym. Breakers will close out the league season hosting Godinez on the 7th and Saddleback on Feb. 9.
On the record watch, Brandon Lewis has now collected 61 three-point baskets this season good for sixth place on the all-time single season list and has 104 career long range shots good for seventh on the all-time career list. Travis Hanour (2000) holds the mark for a season at 80. Lewis has at-least seven games remaining this season and could set the mark in CIF.
Girls Basketball (0-4, 0-12)
Breakers dropped three games last week losing to Godinez 52-16 on Tuesday, to St. Margaret’s on Wednesday 55-29, and to Costa Mesa on Thursday 51-32. Breakers never threatened in any of the contests.
Girls Soccer (3-0-2, 7-6-4)
Marina Paul converted a penalty kick in the 70th minute to lift Laguna to a 1-0 victory over Saddleback (0-4-1, 2-13-3) at the Roadrunner campus this past Tuesday afternoon. The victory extended the Breaker’s unbeaten streak to nine, just two short of the school record set in 2000 and more importantly, completes the first round of league play with the Breakers in sole possession of first place.
Last week, the Breakers tied Godinez 1-1 on Tuesday at Centennial Park and came back on Thursday to blow out Costa Mesa 6-0 at home in one of their biggest league wins ever. Marina Paul and April Carson scored twice with Audrey Pillsbury and Melissa Chapman adding single goals against the Mustangs.
League standings thru Tuesday Jan 24: Laguna 3-0-2, Godinez 2-0-3, Estancia 2-1-2, Calvary 1-0-4, Costa Mesa 0-3-2, Saddleback 0-3-1 (League awards 3 points for a win, 1 point loss – Breakers lead by 3 points after first half of the season)
This week’s Thursday matches: Calvary @ Laguna, Saddleback @ Costa Mesa, Estancia @ Godinez. The league race and playoff picture should be very clear next week. Only the top three teams advance to CIF Division 4 playoffs, no at-large bids.
Girls Water Polo (2-0, 15-4)
Breakers blew out Estancia 24-1 in league play on Wednesday, January 18 in a contest at the local community pool but lost another one goal game to a ranked team losing to Foothill 11-10 on Thursday at home.
Against Estancia, Makenzie Fischer scored six goals folled by Sidney Saxe and Melena Masson with five each. Breakers led 13-1after the first period. On Thursday, Laguna followed a familiar pattern against top teams as the Knights rallied in the second half to edge the Breakers, Yoshi Anderson, Lexie Deltoro, and Masson all scored three goals for Laguna. Laguna hosted Newport Harbor this week for another attempt to climb in the rankings.
SSCIF D-I Poll for Jan 23: 1 – CdM, 2 – Newport Harbor, 3 – Los Alamitos, 4 – Foothill, 5 – Santa Barbara, 6 – Laguna Beach, 7 – Dos Pueblos, 8 – Edison, 9 – San Marcos, 10 – Huntington Beach, Mira Costa (Tie)
Photos by Robert Campbell
