Laguna faces big test

An early season showdown awaits the Laguna Beach High boys’ basketball team tonight when the Breakers host Dana Hills at 7 p.m. at Dugger Gym.

Laguna, 4-1, will be going up against an undefeated Dana Hills team.

The Dolphins come to campus sporting a 5-0 record, recording easy wins over Fountain Valley, San Juan Hills, Woodbridge, Mission Viejo and most recently, Laguna Hills on Tuesday. They have a pair of 6-foot-4 junior forwards in Kyle Johnson and Nick Kaspar and a 6-foot-8 center in senior Justin Griffe.

Laguna Coach Bret Fleming got a first-hand look at Dana Hills during the Tuesday win over Laguna Hills and came away impressed.

“They’re big, they’re good and very talented,” Fleming said. “It’s going to be a really big test for us.”

Laguna won for the fourth time in five starts Monday when it routed outmanned Calvary Chapel of Murrieta, 78-29, at Dugger Gym. The Breakers raced to a 26-15 first quarter lead and were up, 41-18, at the half.

Defensively, they never gave up more than nine points in a quarter.

“It was a great way to start at home,” Fleming said of Monday’s game, which served as Laguna’s home opener. “Everyone got to play and everyone scored. It was a lot of fun.”

Ryan Lawler scored 21 points and Dylan Roley 18 to lead the Laguna charge. Christian Kessler and Adam Selevan both scored eight points, Chris Paul had seven, Skylar Perkins six, John Palfreyman and Cody Duplesea both had four and Tyler Masukawa scored two.

Laguna began its season Dec. 1 by beating Pioneer of Whittier, 51-30, to kick off play at the La Quinta Tournament in Westminster. Two nights later, the Breakers handed Northwood a 63-34 defeat and on Dec. 3 and got past Katella, 48-43, to advance to Saturday’s title game against Marina.

In the final, Laguna suffered its first loss as Marina came away with a 45-34 victory.

“I thought we progressed pretty good throughout the tournament,” Fleming said. “We played pretty well against Northwood and again against a solid Katella team. But in the Marina game, we didn’t play with a lot of confidence and poise, and that’s a big reason why we lost.”

Lawler scored 10 points to lead Laguna. He and Roley both made the all-tournament team.

“We beat a very good Laguna Beach team to win the title,” said Marina Coach Roger Holmes, who had two players, Garrett James and Brendan Holmes, share the tournament’s MVP honor and a third, JJ James, make all-tournament.

Laguna begins play Monday at the 16-team Orange Coast Optimist Holiday Shootout hosted by both Pacifica and Rancho Alamitos. The Breakers have a 5 p.m. first-round game against Magnolia at Rancho Alamitos.

Laguna won the event, then a 32-team tournament, two years ago and last year finished third out of 16 teams.

The tournament runs all week through Dec. 20.

Girls’ basketball

The Breakers began their season at the Century Tournament Dec. 1 where they dropped games to Edison, Westminster, Buena Park and Loara. On Dec. 2, they took a break from the tournament to take on University and lost, 59-18, to the Trojans.

Laguna played both its season opener Dec. 1 against Edison and the University game, without returning center Sam Garner.

Garner was back for the Westminster game, a game in which the Breakers were edged, 47-46. Garner scored 12 points, but it was Emily Writer, who has been the Breakers’ leading scorer in their first five games, who led the way with a game-high 28 points.

Writer also had 20 points and five blocks and Garner added 12 points, 10 rebounds and seven blocks in a 50-36 loss to Buena Park. Writer and Katie Daff scored 16 and 11 points, respectively, in a 44-39 loss to Loara, where Garner scored seven points to go along with 11 rebounds and four blocks.

“Getting Sam back was a tremendous help to our team,” Laguna Coach Jon Hendrickson said. “Obviously, we are not off to a good start at 0-5. We have a lot of work to do as coaches and players. We are committed though to improving our squad and moving forward toward challenging for a league title.”

On Monday, the Breakers host St. Margaret’s and on Tuesday, are home to Morningside of Inglewood. Both nonleague games tip off at 6 p.m. at Dugger Gym.

MIKE SCIACCA covers sports. He can be reached at (949) 494-4321 or by e-mail at [email protected].