Breakers break new ground

Mike Sciacca

In a season of firsts, the Laguna Beach High girls’ basketball team

has added another to its list of accomplishments this year.

Thursday night , the school hosted its first-ever playoff game in

girls’ basketball, as Laguna entertained St. Monica in the opening

round of the CIF-Southern Section Division IV-AA playoffs.

The score was not available at press time.

The hype and hoopla, if you will, surround this week’s game was

something the Breakers aren’t accustomed to.

They tasted a bit of that euphoria last year, when they qualified

for the CIF-SS playoffs for the first time in quite some time, but

they hit the road to play Palos Verdes in a first-round game.

They never got to play a home game last year, as they returned

home from Palos Verdes with a two-point loss.

That elimination only gave the Breakers a stronger resolve for the

2004-05 season -- and a hunger to get another shot in the playoffs.

“We talked about winning league, we talked about getting back to

CIF, and now the kids are focused solely on the playoffs,” Breakers

coach Stacy Howard said. “They all know how hard they’ve worked and

they know that this is what they worked all summer and fall and

winter for -- CIF.

“We’ve (coaches) been asking this team the same question since

June of last year, ‘Where do you want to be in February?’ And the

answer is always the same from the kids: ‘CIF’.”

Laguna got that chance by coming on strong in Pacific Coast League

play.

So strong, in fact, that the Breakers won the school’s first

league championship in the sport, winning the title outright before

the league season ended on Feb. 8.

In St. Monica, Laguna faces a squad that finished third in the

Camino Real League.

The Mariners, however, are the No. 11 seed in the tournament.

Both teams came into Thursday’s game with identical 14-11 records.

“We have talked with some common opponents and done a little

homework, so hopefully that will pay off for us,” Howard said of her

team’s preparation for St. Monica.

Two Breakers -- forward Claire Bevacqua and guard Brittany Clark

-- entered the playoffs with scoring averages of 17.5 and 11.0 points

per game, respectively.

Bevacqua also was averaging 10 rebounds per game.

A victory Thursday would send Laguna into Saturday’s

second-round, where they would face the winner of another Thursday

matchup between No. 5 seed St. Mary’s Academy (Del Rey No. 3) or

Sacred Heart Jesus (Horizon No. 2).