Laguna goes overtime to down Edison, 66-59

Mike Sciacca

Ivan Kovacevic made a game-tying basket with 13 seconds remaining in

regulation play and Laguna Beach High went on to record a 66-59

overtime victory over host Edison in a nonleague boys’ basketball

game.

The Breakers, in their final tuneup before Pacific Coast League

play begins today, outscored the Chargers in overtime, 14-7.

“The win Saturday at Edison is a good stepping stone for us, as we

head into league play,” coach Mark Hill said.

Kovacevic finished the game with 15 points and his solid,

all-around play included a team-high 13 rebounds.

Freshman Cheyne Martin led Laguna in scoring with 25 points.

The Breakers also had routed Los Amigos, 73-44, in Mayor’s Cup

tournament play at Century High.

Kovacevic and Martin again scored in double figures, with 15 and

14 points, respectively.

In girls’ basketball, Laguna saw host Newport Harbor stage a

fourth quarter rally Tuesday and pull out a 54-45 nonleague win.

The Breakers had taken a 36-30 lead into the fourth quarter, but

were outscored in the final period by the Sailors, 24-9.

Brittany Clark led the Breakers in scoring with 15 points and had

five steals and five assists.

Clark is averaging five steals per game.

Deana Awadalla and Aja Roley each scored eight points.

On Monday, Laguna fell to Tustin, 60-34, in nonleague play. Roley,

the team’s leading scorer and rebounder with an 11 points and 8.6 rebounds per game average, scored 12 points and had nine rebounds.

Clark scored nine points to go along with five steals.

Laguna played both the Newport Harbor and Tustin games without

senior starter Katie Sexton, who sat out with a thumb sprain.

Previously, the Breakers had dropped a 50-36 nonleague game to

host Sunny Hills. Summer Kendrick’s 13 points paced Laguna while

Sexton contributed nine points and Clark had nine steals and five

assists.

“I am proud of this group so far,” Coach Stacy Howard said. “We

have struggled in the last week, but I am confident that they will

put things together for league and accomplish some things that

haven’t been done around here for a long time. Our seniors are not

going to let anything get away from them this year.”

Laguna concluded nonleague play with a 6-7 record.

The Breakers opened the Pacific Coast League season Thursday

hosting Corona del Mar.

“The great thing is that we get a fresh start Thursday and

everyone’s even right now,” Howard said. “We have a great shot at a

top three finish in league if we play our style and take care of the

ball.

“We have some talent in places this year that we haven’t in the

past and that will be a different look for our PCL rivals. I think

that we will show things this year that will surprise people and get

us some big wins.”

In boys’ soccer, Laguna fell to Loyola (6-0), Highland (4-2) and

Paramount (3-0) at the West Coast Classic played at Irvine Valley

College.

In girls’ water polo, Laguna’s Wednesday nonleague match at Sunny

Hills, was canceled.