Finding the grove

Mike Sciacca

It’s late December, and the Laguna Beach High girls’ basketball team

is still trying to find its grove.

Although hovering at the .500 mark through eight games isn’t too

bad a spot to be at this stage of the season, coach Stacy Howard

feels her team isn’t where it wants to be.

But in January, she feels her team will be “firing on all

cylinders.”

Laguna hosted Sunny Hills in a nonleague game Wednesday, looking

to improve upon its 4-4 record.

After that game, the Breakers return to the court two days after

Christmas to play Monday at the Garden Grove Tournament.

Laguna opens tournament play Monday at 7:30 p.m. against Los

Angeles Jordan.

The Sunny Hills game result from Wednesday was not available at

press time.

“We match up well with Sunny Hills, and should do well,” Howard

said. “I don’t know much about the Garden Grove Tournament teams.

It’s a new tournament for us this year.

“If we are playing well, we should be able to do well. It will be

a great chance for us to get back in the groove here after a couple

of long weekends with the holidays, and be ready for league in

January.”

In the season’s first eight games, Laguna has been led by junior

Claire Bevacqua, a 5-foot-10 forward who is averaging 15.5 points and

10 rebounds per game.

“When she is running on all cylinders, she is tough to stop,”

Howard said. “She has done a great job of stepping up this year not

only as our strongest physical player, but as one of our most vocal

on the floor. She has had a great start and I expect her to just keep

playing better and keep getting more comfortable.”

Sophomore guard Brittany Clark has also had a quick start to the

season, averaging 8.6 points per game.

Clark is also coming up with an average of four steals per outing.

“Brittany is shooting the ball a ton and is playing some really

tough defense up top with our freshman, Tess Grogan, who is also

starting and doing a great job,” Howard said.

Grogan, a guard, already has hit nine three-point shots and is

averaging just under 8 points per game.

She also is hitting 75% from the free line.

“Everyone is contributing so far,” Howard said. “Each win has been

a true ‘team win’ for us and every loss has been a ‘team loss.’

“They are figuring out what level of intensity they’ve got to play

at each night and some of these younger kids are growing up real fast

on the court.

Laguna has faced a tough schedule in its first eight games of the

season and figures to run into a few more at the Garden Grove

Tournament.

The nonleague battles, she said, should ready her team for the

upcoming Pacific Coast League wars.

“We’ve seen some tough teams [in nonleague], and I expect to see

more,” she said. “All of it is just getting us ready for league play

in January.

“We need to shoot better from the field and the line in the next

two weeks to win games. Our defense has led us so far and I expect us

to keep after it.”

The Breakers have been pretty tenacious on defense, as their 12

steals per game average, will attest. Howard, though, says she’d like

to see that average get up to 18 to 20, per game.

The Breakers also have been “decent” in the rebounding department,

she added.

The one thing that Laguna has been unable to overcome in the first

month of the season is the injury bug.

Howard said that she hasn’t had 10, healthy bodies at practice

from the start.

Junior guard/forward Haley Eaves split her eye open during

Laguna’s home opener, a Dec. 14 victory over Dana Hills.

Howard expects Eaves to be back in the lineup for the Garden Grove

Tournament.

“Having her back will bring us some strength back in the paint and

a lot of aggressive play on defense,” Howard said. “Our other player

out is freshman guard Emily LaRose, still out with a deep thigh

bruise. We expect to have her back to start play in January. We’re

looking forward to having Emily back. She brings us great athleticism

at the guard, is one of our best passers and shooters.”

“We should be firing on all cylinders come January. Right now,

we’re just looking to pick up a few more wins and some experience

here in the next couple of weeks.”