Laguna squad wins NJB championship

The Laguna Beach Girls’ Division 1 team (7th/8th grade) survived two weekends of competition to capture its division title in National Junior Basketball Championship Tournament action.

Laguna, which won its division and went 9-1 during the regular season, began its title run Feb. 19 by downing a tough Tustin squad, 28-13. On Sunday, Laguna handed Diamond Bar its first loss by scoring a 39-27 win in Glendora. Laguna jumped out to an 8-0 lead and staved off several comeback attempts by Diamond Bar to stay in control. Alexandra Lewis and Francesca Cecutti led Laguna early with a couple of scores each. Strong offensive contributions also came from Murphy Thompson, Madison Sinclair and Rachel Kenney.

Defense, a hallmark of the team, also keyed Laguna’s success. Nicole Davidson, Kirsten Landsiedel and Ashley Brown played “smothering individual defense,” Laguna Coach Mark Lewis said. When Diamond Bar threatened with comeback attempts in the fourth quarter, Jackie Cenan and Sydney DeCarlo came up big. Cenan had three key steals that led to her scoring three straight baskets that took the lead to double digits. DeCarlo added a couple of timely baskets to offset scoring by Diamond Bar to protect the lead.

Having survived Diamond Bar, Laguna came back Sunday to defeat La Habra, 24-16. Like the Diamond Bar game, Laguna got off to a hot start and turned a 7-0 lead into an 11-3 halftime advantage. In the third period, Laguna began to tire and sputtered on offense, which allowed La Habra get back into the game. In the fourth period, Cenan ran off a string of three consecutive baskets and DeCarlo scored on an outside shot to push the Laguna lead back to double digits.

By going 3-0 in championship tournament play, Laguna completed its season with a 12-1 record.

— From Staff Reports