LBHS WINTER SPORTS UPDATE
Boys Basketball (W 8, L 13, 3-2 OCL) League Races in the Final Stretch
Freshman Jake Dalke in action against Costa Mesa. Photo by Robert Campbell The race for the Orange Coast League boys basketball crown is entering the final regular season games. For Laguna to win its fourth straight league crown, the Breakers must sweep their final two games, tonight at home at 7 p.m. at Dugger Gym with Estancia and next Wednesday, Feb. 10 at Godinez.
Both the Eagles and Grizzlies are in similar position to Laguna and can capture the crown with a sweep of their remaining games. Estancia has the edge with a 4-1 league record but lost their top player for the season in a practice injury last week.
In games for Laguna last week, the Breakers rallied to edge Costa Mesa (2-20, 0-5) 46-42 in a wild finish on Wednesday, Jan. 27 at Dugger Gym.
The Mustangs are an athletic group but have struggled this season in closing out games, losing several by just a few points. Against Laguna, it looked like their luck had changed after suffering two losses to the Breakers earlier this season. After Laguna took an early 3-0 lead on an Adam Selevan three-point shot Mesa took advantage of Laguna’s cold-shooting and early foul troubles to build a double-digit lead in the second period before Laguna battled back to only trail 21-18 at the intermission. Breakers tied the game early in the third period at 21 before Mesa exerted a 31-24 advantage by the end of the period.
Alia Manetta, a freshman defender, scored 3 goals, had 2 assists and 2 steals in the Breakers 21-4 victory over 2nd place Godinez on Janyary 27 at the local pool. Photo by Robert Campbell The game-changing point came at the six-minute mark when the Mustang’s six-foot, seven-inch center, Andrew Albers, was called for a questionable foul during a defensive rebounding attempt. The thin-skin official whistled the player for a technical giving Laguna four tries at the charity stripe. Derek Reigel hit the technical shots while Selevan hit both tries for the original foul. The four-point swing pulled Laguna to within two points at 32-30. More importantly, though, a fired up team made a final run. Breakers trailed 42- 40 entering the final minute but Selevan hit another three-pointer with 40 seconds left to give Laguna the lead for good. The in-bound play by Mesa attempted to generate a quick two-point score but the missed shot resulted in a scramble and another foul for the Mustangs. Laguna was sent to the line and padded their score.
Breakers Kelsey Peterson (18), Parker Yamasaki (25), Sam Kafer (6), and Christine Gardilcic (10), who fired a loose ball this past Tuesday in the closing seconds to tie the match against Estancia. Laguna (4-10-6, 1-2-3 OCL). The win moves the Breakers a step closer to the playoffs with only two games remaining. Photo by Robert Campbell For the Breakers it was their 10th straight win over Costa Mesa and now lead the long series 42-21.
On Friday, Jan. 29, the Breakers tied to rally from a dismal first half but fell short, losing to Calvary Chapel 49-47 at the Eagle’s gym. First half turnovers and cold shooting plagued Laguna. Fortunately Calvary could not take advantage and build a bigger lead. With a 22-10 lead at the break, Breakers pulled within two points at 39-37 but could not make the plays to get any closer. Tyler Masukawa was hot in the second half with 22 points for the game, Selevan had 16, Reigel two, and Jake Dalke seven points. Girls Water Polo (W 14, L 5, 2-0 OCL)
Breakers Shock Palos Verdes in CIF Showdown
The Sea Queens of Palos Verdes were favored as top seed for the playoffs. The South Bay school won recently against the OC’s top team, Newport Harbor. And in a match against Laguna, the Breakers seemed to have lost it’s focus at a recent encounter.
Nevertheless, Coach Ethan Damato had prepared the Breakers, who last Friday broke open a close 4-3 lead to a 7-3 advantage on their way to a sound 10-5 victory. The scoring swing started on a Jessie Holechek goal during a six-on-five advantage play followed by Jessica Shusko’s outside shot and a score by Yoshi Anderson.
Overall Holechek had four goals, followed by Melina Masson and Shusko, with two each, and single goals from Anderson and Lexie Ross. Etianne Manetta had another brilliant day with 11 saves that added to the Sea Queens frustrations.
The Breaker drive has been aided by the return of Melena Masson from a lengthy illness. The sophomore standout continues to add firepower and defense in only her fifth match of the season. Jessica Shusko also continues to shine with her defensive efforts.
Also last week, Laguna overwhelmed Godinez 21-4 in a home match for the league title. The Grizzlies tried to control the tempo but their players were too tentative in challenging the Laguna starters. Riley Duncan opened scoring on an exclusion play in the first minute followed by a goal by Holechek, Duncan, Anderson, and again by Holechek all within the first two minutes. After a 9-0 first quarter lead, Laguna subs took over. Alia Manetta scored two quick goals as the second period got underway and the rout continued. Also scoring was Sydney Saxe (2), Lexie del Toro (2), Kate Magnusson, Lida DeGroote, Mackenzie Baldridge, and Hannah Drever.
This past week, Laguna traveled to Riverside Poly, a top Inland Empire school for a match on Tuesday followed by the sport’s oldest tournament, the Southern California Champions, played at area pools beginning yesterday. The tournament concludes Saturday, Feb. 6.
The regular season wraps up next week with Laguna hosting the league’s third place team, Costa Mesa, Feb. 10 and concludes at Corona del Mar next Friday, Feb. 12.
CIF pairings will be released on Sunday, Feb. 14 at www.cifss.org with the first match on Feb. 18 at the local pool. Finals will be at Irvine High School on Saturday, Feb. 27.
CIF Poll for Feb 1: 1 – Laguna Beach, 2 – Palos Verdes, 3 – San Clemente, 4 – Montebello, 5 – Agoura, 6 – Dana Hills, 7 – Villa Park, 8 – Tesoro, 9 – Mission Viejo, 10 – Royal
Girls Basketball (W 5, L 17, 1-5 OCL)
Calvary Defeats Girls Hoop Squad
Jon Hendrickson’s squad saw their playoff hopes dashed as they dropped a 49-39 contest to Calvary Chapel at the winner’s gym on Thursday, Jan. 28.
Emily Writer suffered early foul trouble, fouling out without scoring, a tough evening for the junior forward who has already scored over 1,000 points in her Breaker career.
For the evening, Grace Komoroczy led Laguna with 14 points in the losing effort. The team concludes their season on Tuesday at Godinez.
Boys Soccer ( W 4, L 14, T 1, 0-6-0 OCL)
Tough week for the boys as their playoff hopes ended with a sound 3-1 loss to Costa Mesa on Wednesday, Jan. 27 and a similar 3-1 loss to Calvary Chapel on Friday. Breakers host Estancia today, Friday, Feb. 5, at Guyer and conclude their season at Godinez on Wednesday. Laguna has not gone winless in league play since 1992. The 2010 season snaps a record four-straight winning campaigns for the Breakers. Girls Socc er (W 5, L 10, T 5, 1-2-2 OCL)
Playoff Hopes Still Alive
Momentum swung in favor of the girls soccer team in a stunning 2-1 upset of undefeated league leader Estancia last Saturday at the loser’s home field. The match started with a quick goal by the Eagles off a long-ball kickoff play that was deflected back to the penalty area. The host school drove the ball in for a score with less than 30 seconds off the clock.
Laguna rallied behind a strong defense led by seniors Christina Gardilcic and Kelsey Peterson. Midfielders Alex DeGarmo, Jenny Maddocks and Samantha Kafer battled hard to press the ball forward. Marina Paul and Christa French kept the offensive pressure on.
Jessie Good-Man received a pass from Sam Kafer at about the 30 minute mark and Good-Man used a quick burst to split two Estancia defenders and slide the ball under their keeper for the Breaker score. Second half was end to end play with several dangerous attacks by Estancia ending in great plays by the Breaker keeper, Ryan Bakkum ( eight saves) coming off her line to intercept balls. At the other end, Alex Degarmo ended a breakaway with a shot on goal. The ball was deflected back to DeGarmo who streaked to the end line and then deftly slid a pass out front to Kafer. On the first touch Kafer smashed the ball into the upper right corner.
Earlier in the week, Laguna lost 4-1 to co-league leader, Calvary Chapel after taking an early 1-0 lead over the host Eagles.
This past week Laguna hosted Estancia and Godinez at Guyer Field and complete the regular season on Tuesday at Godinez. Breakers need to atleast split with the Grizzlies to earn the final league playoff spot.
