WINTER SPORTS UPDATE
WRESTLING (1-0)
Laguna competed against 20 teams this past weekend at the Andrew Peña Classic at Irvine High School on Jan. 6, walking out with four tournament placers, including a champion and finalist.
Barron Zepeda (senior) won first place in the 120-pound weight class after winning three matches and going undefeated. At the same time, James Kramer, Junior, took second place in the 157-pound weight class, earning three victories and one defeat in the finals. Jackson Lawsky (senior) and Mason Mikulin (So) also earned third place in the 113-pound weight class and 106-pound weight class, respectively. Both wrestlers amassed a 3-1 record in the event.
Breakers traveled to league favorite Marina for a match on Jan. 10. Results will be in next week’s paper.
BOYS BASKETBALL (11-9)
Laguna played highly regarded Los Alamitos, considered among the top 10 public school teams in Southern California, on Jan. 3 at the Griffin’s gym and pushed the hosts before falling 80-69. Dylan McEachern scored 16 points, Mac Thompson 15 on three-point shots, Ryan Cheng and Sam Burchi each scored 10. Jack Halverson dished out 10 assists and scored nine points.
Last Friday, Laguna lost to a hot-shooting Edison squad 55-45 in a Sunset League crossover contest. McEachern and Halvorson each scored 15 points, Mack Thompson added nine, and Sam Burchi five. Chargers (17-3) now lead the all-time series 8-7. Sunset Wave League play began this past Wednesday with Marina. Breakers are at Corona del Mar this Friday, Jan. 12.
Remaining Dugger Gym games (all at 7 p.m.): Friday, Jan. 19 at Fountain Valley, Tuesday, Jan. 30 versus Corona del Mar and Thursday, Feb. 1 versus Huntington Beach.
GIRLS BASKETBALL (6-12, 0-1)
Laguna lost a tough opening league contest 41-39 to Huntington Beach this past Tuesday, Jan. 9 at Dugger Gym. Breakers held a 36-35 lead late in the contest. Earlier this month in on-league action, Laguna was swamped 76-22 at Los Alamitos on Jan. 4 and lost 47-36 to Corona del Mar on Jan. 6 at home. This past Monday, the squad lost 63-48 to Capo Valley Christian at Laguna.
BOYS SOCCER (3-8-1)
Breakers lost their two Sunset League crossover matches last week, losing 2-1 to Los Alamitos on Jan. 3 and 6-3 to Newport Harbor on Jan. 5 (9-1-1).
GIRLS SOCCER (7-3-1, 0-1-0)
Laguna was off until Jan. 4, when they lost a non-league Sunset crossover match at Marina 2-0 but held Newport Harbor (11-4-2) to a 1-1 tie on Jan. 6 at Guyer Field. The squad dropped the Wave League opening match to Edison (8-5-2) on Tuesday, Jan. 9, by a 2-1 score.
GIRLS WATER POLO (6-7, 0-1)
It was a tough week for the Breakers as they dropped two competitive contests, falling 15-13 at Foothill on Jan. 4 and 9-6 at Mater Dei on Jan. 6.
Against Foothill, the Breakers took an early lead and trailed 5-4 at the midpoint. The Knights were very efficient in their shooting, which was the difference. Ava Knepper scored five goals, three assists, two steals and three drawn exclusions to lead the team. Kara Carver scored four goals and drew four exclusions in the effort.
On Saturday at Mater Dei, Laguna and the Monarchs were tied at the intermission, and the Breakers led until late in the third period before defensive errors led to the host’s victory. Presley Jones led Laguna with three goals, two assists and a steal. Sienna Jumani had 13 saves in the cage.
This week: Laguna traveled to Corona del Mar (1-1, 10-4) this past Wednesday for a Surf League match and is on the road this weekend at the 22nd Santa Barbara TOC. Laguna opens play on Friday facing San Clemente at Dos Pueblos High School. Should the seedings hold, Laguna would play Foothill later that day. The tournament concludes on Saturday at Santa Barbara High School. Laguna has won the event four times and lost in overtime last year to Newport in the finals. Laguna is seeded sixth this year behind Orange Lutheran, San Marcos, Foothill, Mater Dei and Newport. Next week, Laguna travels for a pair of league matches with Newport on Tuesday, Jan. 18, and at Los Alamitos on Thursday, Jan. 18.
Have a note/question on Laguna sports/correction/update? E-mail Frank at [email protected]. Looking for the 2023-24 high school schedules and scores? Check Laguna Beach High School on the Max Preps website.
