High School Basketball: Laguna boys shake off slow start to rout Estancia
The Laguna Beach boys’ basketball team overcame a slow start on Wednesday to win going away in Orange Coast League play.
The Breakers trailed visiting Estancia early but took the lead by the end of the first quarter, and went on to post a 72-40 victory over the Eagles at Dugger Gym. The 32-point win completed a league series sweep (2-0) against the Eagles.
Laguna was down eight points before rallying to take an 18-16 lead at the end of the opening quarter.
The Breakers improved their league record to 5-2 — good for a tie for second place with Calvary Chapel, and improved to 13-12 overall.
“We didn’t come out with much intensity and we didn’t defend in that first quarter,” Laguna Coach Bret Fleming said. “We started to turn it around toward the end of the first quarter, and then we got into our transition game and got the ball up court.”
Laguna put two players in double figures with wing Blake Burzell leading all scorers with 24 points. Junior wing Darin Richardson scored 12 points, and Sterling-Bowen Dudley had nine points.
Burzell’s 24 points followed up a monstrous game the freshman had on Jan. 30 at Dugger Gym. He poured in 34 points to go with nine rebounds, five assists, four steals and two blocked shots in the Breakers’ 80-39 shellacking of visiting Costa Mesa.
Laguna, which started league play on Jan. 14 with a 52-42 win at Costa Mesa, took a 23-5 lead on the Mustangs after one quarter.
“I thought we came out last Friday night ready to play, and we dominated from tip to finish,” Fleming said. “Blake had a huge game, and I thought Isaac (Wulff) played real well and attacked the basket, and Nick Rahder also played real well.”
Wulff, who had six points in Wednesday’s win over Estancia, scored 20 against Costa Mesa. Richardson had seven points and Rahder six points.
The Breakers play a 7 p.m. league game on Friday at Saddleback. They play twice next week to complete their OCL schedule. First, they travel for a 7 p.m. game on Tuesday at league-leading Godinez (7-0), and end league and regular season play at 7 p.m. on Thursday against Calvary Chapel.
Laguna’s two league losses are to Godinez at Calvary Chapel.
“For me, right now, we’re only looking at Saddleback,” Fleming said. “Our goal is to come out and play well right away and get better in that game. After that, then we will worry about next week when next week comes.”
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Girls’ Basketball
The Breakers, who entered the CIF Southern Section Division 4AA rankings this week at No. 14, dropped a 57-29 Orange Coast League game on Tuesday at Dugger Gym to Estancia.
Junior forward Alexandra Lewis got her team-high nine points on three three-point shots, and junior guard Jackie Cenan and sophomore guard Rachel Kenney both had seven points for the Breakers.
Laguna slipped to 5-2 in league play and 13-10 overall. The result left the Breakers in a tie for second place with Godinez.
Estancia, ranked No. 11 in CIF-SS Division 4AA, took a two-game lead in the league standings with a 7-0 record.
The Eagles outscored the Breakers, 17-2, in the fourth quarter.
“Estancia is a very good team,” Laguna Coach Mark Lewis said. “They play every possession for the entire 32 minutes. We talked about needing to have focus and energy for the entire 32 minutes. Against Estancia, if they are firing on all cylinders, like they were, you can’t take even one possession off. We saw that at the beginning of the third quarter.
“We were a bit lackadaisical coming out of halftime, didn’t play with the focus and energy needed and Estancia hit two quick shots to stretch the lead from 11 to 17 (points) in less than a minute.”
The Breakers completed a league sweep (2-0) of Costa Mesa on Jan. 29 by roaring back from 14 points down in the third quarter to knock off the visiting Mustangs, 48-45. Cenan, who drew fouls on the offensive end throughout the game and also scored on a few key drives to the basket in the fourth quarter to push Laguna into the lead, led the scoring with 18 points. Lewis again hit a trio of three-point shots and finished with 16 points, and Kenney had eight points.
Kenney’s final points came with under 30 seconds remaining when she took a long pass and drove to the basket to score and break a 45-45 tie. The Breakers got the ball back after a Costa Mesa turnover, Lewis hit the front end of two free throw attempts, and junior forward Sydney DeCarlo came up with a huge offensive rebounds on Lewis’ miss that allowed the Breakers to run out the clock.
“I was proud of the fight to climb our way not only back into the game, but to snatch the victory away from a very determined Costa Mesa team,” Mark Lewis said.
Laguna took on Saddleback in league play on Thursday. The score wasn’t available at press time. The Breakers conclude league play with two games next week beginning with a 6 p.m. game on Monday at Godinez. They end the regular season with a 6 p.m. home game on Wednesday against Calvary Chapel.
“We are still in a great position to finish strong in league,” Lewis said. “We need to take care of business on our end and let the chips fall where they will in the rest of league. We have a great opportunity to finish well in league and secure a good seeding going into the CIF playoffs.”
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CIF Weekly Rankings
(released Monday)
Girls’ Basketball: Laguna Beach (No. 14, Division 4AA).
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Twitter: @MikeSciacca